Raipur, May 9 (IANS): Ajit Jogi, former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, has been battling for life at a private hospital, here on Saturday, following cardiac arrest, according to doctors and his family members.

The 74-year-old bureaucrat-turned politician has been put on ventilator at Shree Narayana Hospital and doctors have described his condition "extremely critical".

"My father's condition is extremely serious. But he is a warrior. He needs prayers of people of Chhattisgarh besides God's wish," said Amit Jogi, his only son.

His family members said Jogi collapsed in lawn of his residence lawn around noon as a tamarind seed got stuck in his neck, causing a cardiac arrest.

Jogi has been confined to wheelchair since April 2004 following a near-fatal road accident.

Jogi became the first Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh when it was formed in November 2000. He led the Congress government till November 2003 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power after first Assembly polls in the mineral-rich state.

Jogi quit the Congress in June 2016 and floated a regional party. He has largely been living in political isolation after the Congress stormed to power in state in 2018 and his bete noire Bhupesh Baghel became the Chief Minister of the mineral-rich state.