Patna, July 24, (The Telegraph) : The inhuman face of Bihar's votebank politics came to the fore today when former minister Anand Mohan Singh of the RJD was virtually left to die while his party seniors remained busy soliciting electoral support of the people, oblivious to the serious condition of their colleague who suffered a heart attack midway through a programme.

Anand Mohan, 52, was attending a conference of his Nonia caste grouping at the Rabindra Bhavan auditorium in the city. On the stage with him were party chief Lalu Prasad and former party colleague and now state minister Shyam Rajak.

Anand Mohan was a minister in the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi regime between 1995 and 2000.

The RJD leader, who was seen smiling at his colleagues when the programme began around 2.15pm, collapsed at 3.12pm, when Rajak was speaking. The minister stopped his speech while Lalu looked on.

Some RJD workers lifted Anand Mohan out of the stage and took him away through the rear exit. They sprinkled water on his head, some tried to check his pulse, some even pumped his chest.

However, none of the senior leaders came forward to take charge of the situation. Rajak continued speaking while Lalu sat listening.

Someone shouted out to get the ambulance, others barked orders that Anand Mohan should be taken to the nearest hospital. However, no one was ready to offer his vehicle. This, in spite of the fact that more than 20 SUVs belonging to the VVIPs were parked outside the auditorium.

After 15 minutes, a long time in case of a cardiac arrest, one person who had come to attend the programme offered his Maruti 800 car to ferry Anand Mohan to hospital.

In their wisdom, the RJD workers took Anand Mohan to Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology near PMCH, for which one had to negotiate heavy traffic at the Income Tax roundabout and then the busy Ashok Raj Path stretch, 4km away from the venue.

This when a health facility, the New Gardiner Hospital, was just 1km away from the venue.

The function inside the auditorium meanwhile continued as usual. Lalu got up to speak at 3.45pm and went on for half-an-hour.

Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology director Dr Harendra Kumar said Anand Mohan was brought around 4.15pm. "He was brought dead, we could not do anything," he said.

Doctors said the first hour or so is crucial in case of heart attacks. Cardiac surgeon Dr Ajit Pradhan said: "The sooner a patient gets treatment, the better are the prospects of his or her survival."

When the function got over, Lalu and Rajak both visited the hospital. "Anand Mohan would have been our candidate from Nokha Assembly segment. It's sad he is no more with us," the RJD chief said.

Photo credit: The Telegraph