Chennai: Arrested Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji will undergo a surgery for heart related ailment at a private hospital here on June 21, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Thursday. Balaji, who was arrested by the ED in a cash-for-jobs scam last week, was initially admitted to a government hospital and later shifted to the private facility following a court order.
"Since the surgery has to be mandatorily performed on Senthil Balaji it will be done tomorrow," Subramanian told reporters here. He said the minister was not aware of the "critical blocks" before they were diagnosed last week by the government doctors.
On Monday, the ED moved the Supreme Court against an order of the Madras High Court allowing Senthil Balaji undergoing medical treatment at a government hospital in Chennai to be shifted to a private facility.
Now, a Minister without portfolio, Balaji was holding Tamil Nadu Electricity, and Prohibition and Excise portfolio at the time of arrest. On June 14, the ED detained him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a purported cash for jobs 'scam' that took place when he was the transport minister in an AIADMK government led by the late J Jayalalithaa. The interim orders were passed by the high court passed after Balaji's wife filed a habeas corpus petition alleging illegal arrest.
Subsequent to his arrest, Balaji was admitted to the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Specality Hospital. The hospital in a medical bulletin announced the Minister of from triple vessel disease for which CABG (coronary artery bypass graft) - bypass surgery was advised at the earliest. Minister for Electricity, Excise and Prohibition, Senthil Balaji, age 47, underwent a coronary angiogram at 10.40 am.
The coronary angiogram has revealed blocks in three blood vessels. It has been recommended that a bypass surgery is carried to address the same at the earliest, the bulletin said. A second opinion from the doctors from ESIC concurred with the diagnosis of the doctors from the state-run hospital.
