NEW DELHI, Jan 24: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was conscious and stable after successful heart bypass surgery on Saturday, doctors said, months before he is due to lead the ruling Congress into national polls.

“We are very happy to inform you that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has successfully undergone coronary bypass surgery,” said Dr K. Srinivas Reddy, one of the 11-member team who performed the lengthy procedure. “He is conscious, he is responding and he is very, very stable.”

Mr Singh will be able to attend to most of his official duties in two to four weeks’ time and he “should be fully active and functional by six weeks or before,” Dr Reddy said.

Medics advised the procedure after Mr Singh complained of chest pains earlier in the week.

The operation to clear multiple arterial blocks began at 8.45am (0315 GMT) on Saturday and lasted almost 11 hours, ending at 7.30pm (1400 GMT), the doctor added.

Ramakant Panda, who headed the panel of surgeons who operated on Mr Singh, said that the 76-year-old was stable throughout the procedure and “there was no setback.”

“We did in total five bypasses and took care of the blockages,” Dr Panda said, adding that Mr Singh would need to stay in hospital for seven to eight days.

News of Mr Singh’s apparently successful operation, meanwhile, was greeted with jubilation by his cabinet colleagues and members of his Congress party.

“The entire country is rejoicing because our prime minister has come out successfully from the operation,” Congress spokesman Veerappa Moily said.

“The doctors are quite confident (about the prime minister’s condition),” said Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. —AFP