Patna: Tariq Anwar, former Union minister and Nationalist Congress Party MP, was rushed to Delhi by an air ambulance on Tuesday after he fell ill in Katihar, his Lok Sabha constituency, on Monday.

The 66-year-old NCP general secretary was scheduled to visit Patna from Katihar, 325km east, on Tuesday for a programme. But the event had to be cancelled because of Anwar's health conditions, party spokesperson Anil Kishore Jha said in a statement here.

"The NCP general secretary suddenly fell ill at Katihar yesterday (Monday), following which he was admitted to the local railway hospital. He was scheduled to visit Patna today (Tuesday), but the programme was cancelled owing to his ill health," Jha said.

Anwar was taken to Delhi, via Purnea, by an air ambulance on Monday, he added.

"The exact nature of his illness will be known only after a thorough investigation that he is likely to undergo in Delhi. He is under continuous medical supervision," the NCP spokesperson said.

Anwar had served as Union minister of state for agriculture and food processing in the UPA-II government of Manmohan Singh. He has represented the Katihar parliamentary constituency over six times, starting in 1980. He used to be a prominent Congress leader from Bihar and was made national president of the Youth Congress.

But when Sharad Pawar parted ways with the Congress, he joined the NCP and was elected as Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra. PTI