Election campaigning takes a toll; Navjot Singh Sidhu damages vocal cords, put on steroids

Chandigarh: Congress leader and star campaigner for the party in the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections, Navjot Singh Sidhu has damaged his vocal cords and has been put on medication, his office said on Monday. The cricketer-turned-politician, who is a minister in the Captain Amarinder Singh government in Punjab, is being administered steroids and injections to recover.

“Navjot Singh Sidhu has been put on steroid medication and injections due to continuous speech damaging his vocal cords. At the moment, Mr Sidhu is under the medication and in the process of a quick recovery to return back to campaigning at the earliest,” Sidhu’s office said.

Sidhu, who has a penchant for staying amidst controversies, addressed some 80 rallies during the past 30 days.

"Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu campaigned across the country, addressing 80 rallies in 28 days. Continuous speaking has severely impacted his



vocal cords to the extent that they bled at times," an official release said.

"Sidhu consulted physicians on early Sunday morning in Chandigarh, who advised two alternatives --either a balm coating over his damaged throat, which would require him not to speak for four days or a severe measure of anti-inflammatory injections and steroid medication along with complete rest for 48 hours," it read.

Sidhu is reported to have insisted on campaigning for the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections to be held on May 19.

"He chose anti-inflammatory injections and steroids to rest for just two days because balm coating would have hampered his ability to speak for the next four days," the release said.

Sidhu is due to address public meetings in Patna Sahib, Bihar, on May 14; and in Ponta Sahib, Bilaspur and Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh, on May 15. On May 16 and 17, he would campaign in Madhya Pradesh.