Hazare's health calls for intensive care

As Anna Hazare’s hunger strike for the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill enters into the seventh day, the agitating leader’s worsening condition on Monday forced state authorities to convert a room inside the Yadavbaba Temple into an intensive care unit (ICU).

Hazare's aide Suresh Pathare told Deccan Herald from Ralegan Siddi that the activist has lost over 4.3 kg with the creatinine level in his urine crossing the normal level, adding to the worries of attending doctors.

However, Pathare said that his blood pressure and temperature, despite severe weather conditions in Ralegan Siddi, was normal and that doctors were on alert.

The activist, talking to local media in his usual acerbic repartee, countered Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal's condescending remark on the Lokpal Bill, by stating: “ It is good enough to trap a lion. Forget about the mouse.”

The bill was expected to come up in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, but the demise of Union Labour and Employment Minister Sis Ram Ola postponed the matter. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath assured media after a Congress Core Group meeting that the Parliament session would be extended to pass the bill if need be.

Local media from the hamlet said that Hazare, despite being in a weak condition, requested the Samajwadi Party to back the bill passage and later spoke on the issue of women before paying a tribute to the martyrs of the Bangladesh war.