Prime minister Manmohan Singh is not the only one to face health problems while holding the most powerful post in the country, as four of his predecessors suffered ailments during their tenure, including the country's first premier Jawaharlal Nehru.
The recent was prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who in November 2000, had undergone a left knee joint replacement at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai.
Dr Chittranjan Ranawat, the US-based surgeon, had operated on the then prime minister. The 12th prime minister of the country, PV Narasimha Rao had a heart problem because of which he had to take repeated medical aid.
Rao underwent a bypass heart surgery in the US in 1991 before taking over as the Prime Minister. He died of cardiac arrest on December 23, 2004.
Similarly, Lal Bahadur Shastri who was prime minister during Congress-led government between June 9, 1964 and January 11, 1966 had a heart attack soon after he took over
as prime minister in 1964.
Following the attack, he had to cancel his visit to the Commonwealth prime ministers conference in London. The first prime minister of the country, Jawaharlal Nehru also suffered from heart ailments.
He suffered a stroke during a Congress Session in Bhubaneswar in January 1964.
