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Do not insist on visting PM: Mahajan

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Bombay

Phone calls, telegrams, faxes, e-mails... the concern of the nation poured into the Breach Candy hospital in Bombay in every possible form. Dealing with this concern was the main occupation of the prime minister's office when Atal Bihari Vajpayee went under the surgeon's knife for over an hour today.

"There were calls from Cabinet ministers, chief ministers, members of Parliament, governors, friends and relatives," Ashok Tandon, officer on special duty at the PMO, told rediff.com

The operation took place on the second floor; access to the seventh floor was restricted to Home Minister L K Advani, IT Minister Pramod Mahajan, Principal Secretary to the PM and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, Tandon, Secretary V Anant Rajan, Joint Secretary Ashok Saikia, the prime minister's physicians -- Dr Randeep Guleria, Dr Anoop Mishra, Dr Manchanda and Dr Pande -- and Vajpayee's family (his foster daughter, Namita Bhattacharya, her husband Ranjan, and their daughter Niharika). One cannot, of course, not include the omnipresent Special Protection Group officers.

Infact, when the former chief minister of Maharashtra and Union Industry Minister Manohar Joshi (of the Shiv Sena, which is a member of the National Democratic Alliance) came to see prime minister, he only made it as far as the special visitor's room on the ground floor. He waited there for almost an hour and was joined by industrialist Harsh Goenka.

The room contains a visitor's book, a telegram box and a box for visiting cards. One of the telegrams, from the Khwaja Saheb of Ajmer, stated: 'Best and heartiest wishes for your health.'

A communication centre -- with two phones (one of which is a hotline to the PMO in Delhi), a fax machine, a Xerox machine and a computer -- has been set up for the prime minister on the seventh floor. There is, says Tandon, nothing unusual about these arrangements which are made wherever the prime minister is, be it a public meeting at Shivaji Park, a function at Raj Bhavan or a holiday in Simla "This has been the practice for the last 50 years," says Tandon.

Vajpayee's last official telephone conversation on Monday night -- at 2300 -- was to Union Minister of State for Power and BJP MP Jaywantiben Mehta, when he returned her call. The first official call the PMO received on Tuesday came at noon -- it was the President of India inquiring after the welfare of his prime minister.

For the next two days, however, the prime minister has been advised to take it easy and to keep conversations to a minimum. He will not be allowed any visitors for this duration.

Mahajan, who is practically camping at the Breach Candy hospital, has requested the prime minister's well-wishers to refrain from visiting Vajpayee. "We will request them, from the health point of view, not to insist on meeting the prime minister."

With the intention of keeping potential infection at bay, there is only a tea and coffee machine on the seventh floor. The PMO officials go either to the Sahyadri guest house or Raj Bhavan for refreshments, lunch and dinner. Some members of the PMO may be replaced by their counterparts in New Delhi over the weekend.

The PM's surgery: The complete coverage

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