Kochi: Kerala's United Democratic Front Convenor and Congress' Lok Sabha candidate from Chalakkudy, Benny Behanan, suffered a heart attack on Friday and is admitted to a hospital near here, party leaders said.
The 66-year-old underwent an emergency angioplasty and his condition is now stable, a party leader said.
He had reached his residence close to midnight after his election campaign. At around 2:30am, he complained of uneasiness and was moved to the nearest hospital.
Behanan, a former two time MLA, is pitted against veteran comedian and sitting Lok Sabha member Innocent, a Left-supported Independent and BJP's A N Radhakrishnan.
He is currently in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and has been advised bed rest for 10 days.
It is feared that Behanan's campaign work will suffer due to the unexpected break.
Behanan is a prominent member among the second-generation leaders from the Congress who succeed the likes of A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi. He became the state president of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) in 1978 and successfully contested assembly elections from Piravom in 1982 and Thrikkakara in 2011. He was also the president of Thrissur District Congress Committee for many years.
Chalakudy has been a strong UDF bastion during the five decades when the constituency was known as Mukundapuram. Those who defeated Congress's candidates were ‘surprise guests' such as Lonappan Nambadan and Innocent. The Congress-led UDF has won 12 out of the 16 elections so far.
