Artery blocked, Himachal Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla operated at Noida hospital

Shimla, February 27

Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla had a stent placed in his heart after one artery was found blocked during medical investigation at a Noida hospital on Monday. The Governor was admitted to the hospital after he complained of chest pain around Sunday midnight.

“During the medical check-up, it was found that one of my arteries had blockage. Immediately a stent was inserted to cure the problem,” the Governor has been quoted as saying on the Twitter handle of Raj Bhavan. “Thank you all well-wishers, I am fine now,” the Governor said.

The Governor further said that the entire cost of the medical procedure amounted to less than Rs 1 lakh. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reduced the cost of stent. The general public is benefiting from the reduced cost of stents,” the Governor has been quoted as saying.

Shukla had gone to Delhi on a courtesy visit after assuming the charge of Himachal Governor and had met President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

The Governor might be discharged from the hospital in a day or two, sources said.

Shukla, a BJP leader and former Union Minister, assumed charge as the 29th Governor of Himachal Pradesh on February 18.

A native of Rudrapur village in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh, Shiv Pratap Shukla, a four-time MLA, started his political journey with the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

He joined the saffron party in 1983, became a state legislator and eventually became a Rajya Sabha member in 2016. In 2017, Shukla was appointed the Minister of State for Finance in the Narendra Modi government. (with PTI inputs)