Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in AIIMS ICU with urinary tract infection

NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 93, was on Monday admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. In a statement, AIIMS said Vajpayee, who was admitted over complaints of a lower respiratory tract infection and kidney issues, was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. PM Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah and Congress president Rahul Gandhi visited AIIMS to check on the former PM. Union health minister J P Nadda and several other BJP leaders including L K Advani, too, visited the hospital.

Sources in AIIMS said visitors started pouring in after word spread about Rahul Gandhi’s visit to see Vajpayee. “We had no information about either the PM or any other ministers plan to come to the hospital. However, their sudden visits started once Gandhi left the hospital,” said a senior doctor who did not wish to be identified. Earlier, AIIMS said Vajpayee was admitted for ‘examination and management’. “He is stable. A team of doctors under the supervision of Dr Randeep Guleria, director of AIIMS, are conducting tests,” the hospital stated. 

The BJP said Vajpayee was taken to the hospital for a routine check-up. “As per the advice of doctors, former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji has been admitted in AIIMS today for a routine check-up and investigations,” said the party in a statement.Vajpayee, a BJP veteran who has served as PM thrice — briefly in 1996, and for two terms between 1998 and 2004 — has been out of active politics since 2009 owing to health reasons.

He had suffered a stroke in 2009 which impaired his speech. People close to him say that his health has been a major cause of concern and he has been either bed-ridden or confined to a wheel-chair for the past several years.“He also fails to recognise people and suffers from dementia,” said a source in the party. “Except for going to AIIMS, he has not moved out of his house for many years now.”

Modi, Shah, Rahul visit ailing ex-prime minister

Modi met the doctors and enquired about the well-being of Vajpayee. He also met his family members, a statement said

Sources in AIIMS said visitors started pouring in after word spread about Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the hospital

The leader was admitted following complaints of a lower respiratory tract infection and kidney issues. He was diagnosed with urinary tract infection Since suffering a stroke in 2009, Vajpayee has been mostly confined to his home