M A I N   N E W S

Punjab CM slips on stairs, hospitalised
Arun Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 7
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was admitted to the PGI here after he tripped on the stairs of his official residence this morning. He was going for his walk around 7.10 am when the accident occurred.

Badal (82) was rushed to the PGI by his son Sukhbir Singh Badal. The Chief Minister managed to walk from his car to the lift. A PGI spokesperson said that Badal had suffered a cut above the right eyebrow for which he received two stitches and was being kept under observation.

The Chief Minister was being treated under General Surgery head of department Dr Rajinder Singh. Routine tests were run and all his vital functions are normal, the spokesperson said, adding that X-rays and CT Scan of the head did not show any injury. However, family sources said that Badal also had a fracture in his chest but the attending doctor at PGI said it was a soft tissue injury in the chest region.

Governor Shiv Raj Patil, Badal’s Cabinet colleagues Manoranjan Kalia, RS Brahmpura and Manpreet Singh Badal, and

Punjab DGP Paramdeep Singh Gill were among those who visited the Chief Minister in his room on the fifth floor of the Nehru Building. Sukhbir’s wife and SAD Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal was with the Chief Minister in hospital. The PGI’s main internal road and area around A Block was choked with VIP vehicles. Some patients and their attendants were put to inconvenience as Punjab Police men took over two elevators in the A Block. A PGI security personnel had a spat with security staff manning traffic.