Jogi's birthday bash leaves patients fuming

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: If former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi’s supporters ran riot in Raipur on his birthday last year, his 58th birthday celebrations at Bombay Hospital on Thursday left other patients on the same floor fuming.<br /><br />By noon, the twelfth floor of Bombay Hospital was packed to capacity with Jogi’s guests.Well-wishers, who had poured in from Chhattisgarh with bouquets and greeting cards, yelled ‘<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Jogiji ki jai’</span>. Electronic mediapersons trained their cameras on the action and instructed all those who were not ‘reporters’ to move aside.<br /><br />A Jogi aide said, “About 20 MLAs have come all the way from Chhattisgarh to greet Jogiji on his birthday and so they are a bit excited.’’ The din was so great that Paresh Mehta, whose son was recuperating in the room opposite Jogi’s, was forced to step into the corridor and yell at the crowd to keep the noise levels under control. <br /><br />“My 22-year-old son has been in a coma for the last three months and he was operated upon two days ago. How can he recover with so much noise?’’ he demanded, adding that while he joined the others in wishing the former chief minister, the festivities should not be conducted at the cost of other patients’ well-being. At one point, when mediapersons refused to leave and continued to create a din, Mehta threatened to enter Jogi’s room.<br /><br />The twelfth floor of the Bombay Hospital has nine patients in the ICU and another nine in the wards. A heavy door separates this section from the lobby. The chaos took place both in the lobby and inside after the media was allowed to meet the minister.</div> </div>