Brows rise as PM stumbles after speech

NEW DELHI, Aug 15: Questions are once again being asked about Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s health after he stumbled, seemed unable to stand and had to be supported by SPG personnel once this morning’s Red Fort speech was over.

After the National Anthem was sung, Vajpayee turned to leave the dais and had taken barely a few steps when he sagged suddenly and had to lean against the dais. He asked for help from the SPG; two of them supported him and practically heaved him to a small anteroom close by. Cameramen who were watching from their vantage point on top of the Fort said that it seemed that the PM’s knees had turned to rubber.

SPG men could be heard shouting for a stretcher from the PM’s ambulance. But after resting for a few minutes in the anteroom, Vajpayee took the lift to the ground and walked, helped by the SPG, to his car. He looked wan and exhausted, cameramen said.

The PMO later said that too much should not be read into the incident. Vajpayee was tired because he had been standingfor so long, having begun the morning early with a visit to Raj Ghat and then the lengthy speech at Red Fort. His lower back problem had surfaced, officials said.