PM Modi meets family of ailing Assam ex-CM Mahanta, wishes for his speedy recovery

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met the family of ailing former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and wished a speedy recovery for the leader, sources said on Friday.

Mahanta was airlifted to the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi on Thursday after he complained of uneasiness, according to a close aide.

Mahanta is suffering from gastritis and high pressure but is now stable, his aide had said.

"Prime Minister Modi met Joyasree Goswami Mahanta (wife of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta) and their son at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg," a source said.

The prime minister enquired about the health of Mahanta and wished a speedy recovery for him, the source said.

Mahanta, 68, was admitted to a private hospital in Guwahati in January after he had complained of chest pain and high blood pressure.

He was also admitted to a hospital in September.

The former student leader, who steered the six-year-long Assam agitation against illegal migrants, is currently an MLA from the Baharampur assembly constituency, which he has won for five consecutive terms since 1991.

Mahanta led the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) to power twice in 1985 and 1996.

His first government was dismissed and the President's Rule was imposed in the state but he completed his second term and lost to the Congress in 2001.