Das Munshi in Malda on Sunday. (Surajit Roy)

July 6: Priya Ranjan Das Munshi suffered a mild heart attack after a meeting in Malda today where he apparently had to concede ground to the camp owing allegiance to the late Ghani Khan Chowdhury over the election of the new zilla parishad chief.

The Union minister was flown to Calcutta and admitted to Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, where doctors confirmed the “mild heart attack”. He is now in the hospital’s cardiac care unit.

From Malda, Das Munshi was first driven to the North Dinajpur district hospital in Raiganj, 75km away.

“He complained of chest pain and discomfort at the emergency,” said the acting medical superintendent, U.K. Ghosh.

The doctor who attended to the state Congress president in Raiganj said the ECG had “revealed ischaemic heart disease”.

From there, three doctors and three nurses escorted Das Munshi to the army base in Purnea, Bihar, from where he was brought to Calcutta on a special flight.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi spoke to Das Munshi’s wife Deepa and enquired about his health.

In Calcutta, Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee said: “There is nothing to worry. He has a slight problem with his heart.”

Das Munshi had reached Malda town around 11am with MLA wife Deepa to meet local Congress MP Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury.

Two hours later, the Congress MLA from Englishbazar, Krishnendu Chowdhury, announced that “Priyada” had been taken ill.

The late Ghani Khan’s brother, Abu Hashem, said: “I don’t understand. He received a phone call from (Jammu and Kashmir chief minister) Ghulam Nabi Azad and left the meeting.”

It is almost certain now that Sabina Yasmin is going to head the new zilla parishad. A part-time English teacher at Kaliachak College, she made her election debut this time. Her main rival was a Das Munshi aide.

Das Munshi, who has influence in north Malda, which falls under his Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency, had been projecting Mostaq Alam as his candidate.

Sources said the “southern lobby”, from south Malda, had voted out Mostaq.

“If Barkatda (Ghani Khan) were around, such divisions would never have taken place,” said Sabitri Mitra, a Congress MLA.