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Prasada to be cremated in Shajahanpur

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

Congress leader Jitendra Prasada, who was admitted to Apollo hospital with brain haemorrhage eight days ago, died of a massive cardiac arrest at 12.15 pm on Tuesday. According to sources, his funeral will take place at his native Shajahanpur in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

A statement from the hospital said the Congress leader, who challenged Sonia Gandhi for the Congress presidency recently, had been in a critical condition ever since his admission, and ''despite best efforts and supportive measures that were provided to him in all respects, the damage that he had suffered in the initial aneurysmal burst was irreversible''.

Prasada, who had been in a coma since admission to hospital, was treated by a team of doctors led by Dr Vijay Sheel Kumar, senior consultant, neuro-surgery.

According to the hospital, Prasada had a cardiac arrest at 12 midnight, and all resuscitative measures were carried out on him, including ''external cardiac massage, defibrilation, intra-cardiac adrenaline and external pacemaker'', which were sustained for over an hour.

Prasada's brother who collapsed and was admitted to Apollo on hearing of the news of the former's illness, had a blood clot removed from his brain, and has been shifted to a private room, where his condition is stated to be stable.

Prasada's body will be taken from the hospital to his residence on Teen Murti Marg, and on Wednesday morning it will be kept at the Congress headquarters to enable party workers to pay their respects. Later, it will be taken by road to Shajahanpur for the funeral.

Among those who visited the hospital on hearing the news of his death were Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who undertook a lightning visit, Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna, and Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Ambika Soni, Sriprakash Jaiswal, Oscar Fernandes and Motilal Vora.

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