Nitin Gadkari faints on stage due to low blood sugar

Mumbai: Nitin Gadkari, the Union minister for road transport and highways, fainted during a public event in Ahmednagar district on Friday due to low blood sugar.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was attending the convocation ceremony of the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV) Agricultural University in Rahuri and lost his balance while the national anthem was being sung.

Mr Gadkari later tweeted: “Had slight medical condition due to low sugar. I have been attended by doctors and I am doing well now. I thank all of you for all the well wishes (sic).”

Mr Gadkari happened to be standing with other dignitaries, including governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, at the event. A video recording of the incident shows Mr Gadkari feeling uneasy, losing his balance and collapsing on the dais even as Mr Rao and others rush to prevent him from falling. A team of doctors examined the leader immediately, after which his BJP colleagues described his condition as “stable”.

Dr Anil Shripad Bhoraskar, a city-based diabetologist who has treated Mr Gadkari, said, “Usually a person who has sugar fluctuation problems sh-ould be particular in ter-ms of their diet and meal timings. Low blood sugar attacks can be caused due to overexertion and skipping meals.”

Another city-based diabetologist, Dr Shasha-nk R. Joshi, said, “If you ignore the symptoms of hypoglycemia, a condition caused by a very low level of blood sugar, it may lead to severe consequences.”

Mr Gadkari had undergone a gastric bypass surgery at the Saifee Hospital at Charni Road on Monday for treatment of type-2 diabetes in 2011.

A BJP release that was issue at the time said that Mr Gadkari had had “poor control of his sugar for the last few months with early diabetic nephropathy despite the best currently available medical management”.