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Pramod Mahajan passes away

Mumbai, May 3
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, who was shot and wounded by his brother in a fit of rage, succumbed to his bullet wounds in Mumbai on Wednesday after battling for life for 12 days.

Mahajan, 56, breathed his last after developing complications from the penetrating injuries caused by the three bullets his younger brother Pravin had fired from a revolver from close range.

Pramod Mahajan seemingly showed some improvement in the past few days at the PD Hinduja Hospital, where he was admitted on April 22 soon after the sensational shooting, but his condition deteriorated suddenly on Tuesday night.

In his statement to the police, Pravin, 46, said he shot Pramod because the latter often humiliated him and refused to help him in his business.

Among the front-ranking leaders of the BJP, Pramod Mahajan was considered a master strategist and one of its principal fundraisers.

His death is a major blow to the party, which was ousted from power in the 2004 general election. —IANS