Pramod Mahajan

Mumbai, May 2: Senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan’s condition worsened with the doctors saying that advanced forms of ventilation had not improved the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome that developed on Monday afternoon.

In the evening, doctors performed bronchoscopy on Mahajan to clean the fluids in his lungs to prevent possible infection, but that didn’t improve his condition. At 8 pm, Anupam Verma, director (administration) of PD Hinduja Hospital, said: “There is no change in his condition. He remains very critical.”

“Mahajan’s condition has further deteriorated over the last 24 hours. He continues to be on life support in the form of mechanical ventilation, ionotropes and continuous renal replacement therapy. The ARDS has further worsened and is causing concern,” Verma said. He added that the “advanced and sophisticated” modes of ventilation had not improved the syndrome.

Verma said the team of specialist doctors led by Dr Gustad Davar was monitoring Mahajan.

The mood at the hospital where Mahajan continued to battle for life remained grim throughout the day. His party associates managing the large electronic media contingent parked outside the hospital preferred to stay inside.

Mahajan’s son Rahul walked out of the hospital with classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj once in the morning, but largely remained by his father’s bedside.

Pandit Jasraj sang a couplet from Hanuman Lila inside the intensive care unit. Jasraj explained later that the couplet was based on a sequence in the Ramayana in which Hanuman rushes with the Sanjeevani herb to save Laxman.

Praveen case

Praveen, now in custody for shooting Pramod, has been booked in a case of cheating and breach of trust.

The case was filed on a complaint lodged by a transport operator who accused Praveen of cheating him of Rs 1.5 lakh in insurance money after a bus deal went awry.