Though the formal medical bulletins, being issued every three hours by the authorities, are routinely describing his condition as 'stable' and all health parameters as normal, the informed sources have expressed concern over the gradual deterioration in the condition of the leader.
Chandrasekhara Rao, who has not taken any solid food from November 29, and was initially treated at the Khammam government hospital before he was brought to NIMS, was running high fever.
NIMS director Dasari Prasad Rao confirmed that his immunity was weakening and he had developed severe shivering and fever on Sunday night and was also suffering from bacterial infection. "We are taking all the necessary precautions and giving him the medicine and the saline, but this alone cannot be sufficient if the person is not taking any food," he said.
Prasad Rao and other doctors have told his family members that it was absolutely necessary for Rao to end his fast and start taking food immediately if further complications were to be avoided.
Rao, who is already a diabetic patient, had random sugar level of 209 and other parameters like blood pressure, palpation, potassium and sodium level in blood were normal.
But doctors said that fluctuations in these levels could cause permanent damage to the vital organs including kidneys. "If this has to be avoided, he should end his fast within 24 hours," one of the doctors said. There were warnings that depletion in sodium and potassium levels can push him in to coma.
KCR's personal physician Dr M V Rao said that going on fast unto death was a risky decision. "I have also pleaded with him to end the fast but he is unrelenting," he said.
KCR's son and legislator K Taraka Rao described the situation as serious and said that the government was lying to the people about his health. "This is also a conspiracy of the government," he said.
While the move of the government to keep people aware of his health condition by issuing regular medical bulletins has helped in keeping the passions of his supporters under control, police officials were worried about the consequences if Rao's condition worsens any more. They point out how the supporters went on rampage in the heart of Hyderabad on Saturday when rumours of Rao's kidneys failing and his slipping in to coma spread like wild fire.
Rao, whose footage of the Chief Minister K Rosiah and other leaders meeting him were shown on television, looks very pale and considerably weak as he remained lying on the bed surrounded by the monitors and other medical equipments in the Intensive Care Unit of NIMS, where hundreds of his supporters were keeping vigil.
