Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday underwent a five-hour throat surgery in Bengaluru, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government said. “The surgery corrected an anatomical abnormality of his oral-pharyngeal and palatal area, which was causing small amounts of saliva to trickle into his air passages whenever his regular breathing was affected by allergy or other factors,” said a statement issued by the Narayana Health City (NHC), where the AAP chief was treated.

Kejriwal's chronic cough+ has been the result of a series of anatomical abnormalities that included an enlarged tongue+ and a soft palate, along with other problems in the structure and positioning in his mouth and throat area. He was operated on Tuesday for persistent cough which has troubled him for over 40 years. "There was a restricted space for the movement of his tongue and an enlarged soft palate and uvula in relation to a slight increase in the volume of the tongue that caused kinematic problems in the function.

The surgery involved correction of a significant septal spur and palato-pharyngeal (small muscle at the roof of the mouth) correction. There was repositioning of the tongue-base relationship along with the reorganisation of the chin area. The aim of the correction was functional restoration rather than that of a disease," it said. He has been advised not to talk for a couple of days and based on his recovery, further decisions will be taken.