Chhagan Bhujbal admitted to Hospital: Maharashtra minister and NCP leader flown to Mumbai as health deteriorates

Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal was hospitalised on Thursday evening following a sudden deterioration in his health. The development comes The senior NCP leader was shifted from Pune to Mumbai by a special flight after he complained complained of fever and throat infection. 

According to a statement shared by his office, Bhujbal is currently in a stable condition and remains admitted to Bombay Hospital in the southern part of the city. 

The state minister for food and civil supplies was in Pune for a cancelled function with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event was scrapped after heavy rainfall left the city inundated on Thursday morning. 

Modi was slated to flag off metro rail services from District Court to Swargate in Pune and launch development projects costing ₹22,600 crore.

Large swathes of Maharashtra was placed under a red alert this week amid heavy rainfall and stormy weather. Train, bus and flight services were affected in Mumbai and Pune as several parts of the state witnessed severe waterlogging due to heavy rains on Wednesday. Hundreds of thousands of commuters spent hours on the road and drone footage posted on social media showed snarled highways clogged with cars — some with their drivers still inside while others had been abandoned.

Cancellation of the Pune Metro inauguration has also sparked a war of words with some MVA leaders insisting that they would do it themselves on Friday if the line was not opened.

“It is very unfortunate that we have missed PM Modi's visit. It is Maharashtra's culture to welcome a guest. I want to bring it to the PMO's notice that it would be the sixth time the same Pune Metro project would have been inaugurated. So I request the PM to inaugurate Pune Metro online...it is the same project he had inaugurated five times in the past...it will help the people of the Pune city and the inauguration must not wait for the next visit of the PM,” said Baramati MP Supriya Sule.

(With inputs from agencies)