Man offers kidney to Pramod

Bhubaneswar, April 28: As sympathy pours in for BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, who continues to battle for life at Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, a man from Cuttack has offered to gift his kidney to the leader if required.

Santosh Saraf, a businessman from Cuttack, said he was terribly moved by the incident in which Mr Mahajan was shot by his younger brother Pravin.

"Fights and disputes are part of every household. But it could go to such an extent that Pravin did not think twice before making an attempt on the life of his brother, who brought him up as his child, is unthinkable," 60-year-old Mr Saraf said.

Mr Mahajan, a dynamic political leader, is the most eligible of the next generation leaders to take up the reins of the Bharatiya Janata Party after Atal Behari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani and steer it through the path of success, he asserted.

Mr Saraf said he wanted to assist in whatever way he could. "Pramod’s condition remains critical and most disturbingly kidneys seem to have been affected. I have offered to gift my kidney to him, if required, for his survival. I will go to Mumbai on my own to do the needful," he said.

The businessman, with a family comprising wife, a daughter and a son, however, said the decision to gift kidney was his own and he had not sought the opinion of the family. Furthermore, it is an act of compassion fuelled by the desire to save a precious life and not for any political leanings or affiliation.