Jharkhand BJP chief Deepak Prakash has angioplasty after heart attack

Ranchi: BJP’s Jharkhand unit president Deepak Prakash underwent a coronary angioplasty at the cardiology unit of Ranchi’s Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) on Thursday afternoon.
The 60-year-old leader, who was appointed to the party’s top post in the state in February this year after BJP’s loss in the assembly polls, complained of uneasiness and breathlessness around 11am on Thursday. He was wheeled into the Rims cardiology unit around 11.45am.
Speaking to TOI, Rims assistant professor Dr Prakash Kumar and Dr Anshul Gupta said: “The patient had come with a massive heart attack. After angiography, we went for angioplasty to remove a blockade in his right artery by inserting a stent.”
Chief minister Hemant Soren drove to the cardiology unit to check on Prakash’s health. “Doctors at Rims did a wonderful job and provided timely treatment. I pray for his quick recovery,” Soren told journalists before leaving the hospital premises. Besides Soren, health minister Banna Gupta also visited the hospital. BJP’s national vice-president J P Nadda, too, enquired about Prakash’s health over the phone from his family members.
A battery of BJP’s senior functionaries camped outside the cardiology unit at the hospital’s superspecialty block. Former CM Babulal Marandi, Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth, Kanke MLA Samri Lal, Ranchi mayor Asha Lakra, deputy mayor Sanjiv Vijaywargia and others visited the hospital. The saffron party, however, appealed to its functionaries and supporters to refrain from visiting the hospital to obey the lockdown orders. The plea, however, did not deter many who camped on the hospital premises.