Mangaluru (Karnataka),  Veteran Congress leader, Oscar Fernandes underwent almost six-hour long surgery on the wee hours of Tuesday and his long-time aides claim that he is stable, but is still in coma.

Fernandes' close aide for long-time and Mangaluru congress leader, M.A. Gafoor told IANS that the blood clot that was formed in the brain was removed after nearly six hour long surgery at Yenepoya Hospital, Kodialbail, Mangaluru and his condition is stable.

"On June 18, Fernandes while performing Yogic breathing exercise by holding a wall in his house lost balance and he banged his head on the wall. After this incident, he had his breakfast and lunch with his family members too. He was quite normal till evening when he reached Yenepoya Hospital for his routine check-up and dialysis. He got his health checked up and after doctors advised him he got admitted, he even walked up to the hospital bed but after that he went into a coma," Gafoor explained with a choked voice.

He added that only after he went into a coma, the family came to know that a blood clot in his head was the reason behind it. "After carefully examining over six days, a team of doctors performed a delicate surgery that began at around 12.30 a.m. and ended only at 5.30 a.m. on Monday to remove the clot. Now he is stable but a team of specialised doctors are monitoring his health round the clock as he is still critical. However, he is responding to the medicines and treatment and is still in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)," he said.

Prior to the operation, Medical Director of Yenepoya Hospital Dr Muhammed Thahir in a statement had stated, 80-year-old former Union Minister has incurred intracranial bleeding following a trivial head injury during his routine workout.

"His condition is complicated by his cardiac and kidney issues for which he has been on treatment for some time in our hospital. But his present condition is stable, and we will closely monitor his condition, so there is nothing to worry for the time being", added Dr Thahir.