Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, 80, has been diagnosed with gallbladder disease and will be treated for the same on March 31. According to National Spokesperson and Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik, Pawar, complained of abdominal pains last night and was rushed to the Breach Candy Hospital for a checkup. A cancer survivor, the 80-year-old former Union Minister had undergone surgery for the illness in 2004.
He has been on a blood thinner medication which has been stopped now due to this issue, said Malik. Now, Pawar will be admitted to the hospital on Wednesday and endoscopy will be conducted followed by surgery, Malik added.
In the meanwhile, all engagements of Pawar have been cancelled.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik took to Twitter to update people about Mr Pawar's health condition and informed them that all his programmes now stand cancelled until further notice.
In the afternoon, Mr Pawar himself tweeted saying Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had called him inquiring about his health, while singer Lata Mangeshkar too wished him a speedy recovery.
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Mr Pawar's illness and health diagnoses come amid a major crisis in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The NCP is part of this coalition, along with the Shiv Sena and the Congress. The Maharashtra government which is just 14-months-old has come under harsh scrutiny after the Mukesh Ambani bomb-scare case, bringing the NCP leader Anil Deshmukh, the state Home Minister, work ethics under criticism.