Saturday, July 2 2005 16:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertiliser Ram Vilas Paswan, suspected to have suffered a mild cardiac attack, was later today (July 2, 2005) airlifted to New Delhi by a chartered air ambulance after a brief hospitalisation in Patna as doctors attending on him described his condition as stable.

An air ambulance of the Deccan Airways carrying a team of experts from the Escorts Heart Hospital, led by Dr N Chandra, arrived at the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna at 1517 hours (IST) to airlift the LJP (Lok Janshakti Party) supremo to Delhi.

Paswan earlier complained of uneasiness, congestion and pain in chest at a posh hotel here this morning and was later admitted to the intensive care unit of the heart hospital on the advice of his attending physician Dr Vijay Prakash.

''His condition is stable and there is no reason for panic,'' the hospital's medical director and noted cardiologist, Dr A K Thakur, told reporters.

''The problem might also be related to acidity,'' he said. Dr Thakur, however, did not rule out the possibility of 'a mild stroke'.

''We are allowing the patient to go to New Delhi at the request of his family members,'' he said adding, ''Let the doctors carry out necessary investigation there to diagnose the problem.''

''Earlier, some abnormal changes were noticed in the ECG and now his blood pressure and ECG are near normal,'' he said.