Ajit Jogi in coma, critical
Ajit Jogi, Chhattisgarh’s first Chief Minister and founder of the regional outfit Janta Congress Chhattisgarh – Jogi (JCC-J), slipped into coma on Sunday, a day after suffering a cardiac arrest, with doctors describing his condition as critical.
He suffered cardiac arrest after a tamarind seed got stuck in his esophagus (windpipe). Jogi fell unconscious on his wheelchair and there was a short cessation of breathing followed by swelling in his brain and abrupt loss of heart functioning.
He is admitted to a private hospital in Raipur where a team of eight doctors are treating him.
According to a medical bulletin issued by the Director of the Hospital, due to respiratory arrest oxygen failed to reach his brain, causing harm.
“In medical terminology it is called hypoxia and we can say that he is in coma showing minimal neurological activity”, it said.
“A team of doctors are doing their best to revive … him. But his condition still remains serious and apprehensive. We will come to know during the next 48 hours how his body is responding to medicines and treatment,” the Director said.
Jogi has been confined to wheelchair since April 2004 following a near fatal road accident.
Jogi became the first Chief Minister of mineral rich Chhattisgarh when it was formed in November 2000. He led the Congress government till November 2003 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power after the first Assembly elections.
Jogi quit the Congress in June 2016 and floated a regional party. He has largely been living in political isolation after the Congress returned to power in the state in 2018.
