Sonia Gandhi leaves hospital after falling ill during parliamentary debate

NEW DELHI // Sonia Gandhi, the leader of India's ruling Congress Party and the country's most powerful politician, has been discharged from a hospital after falling ill during a debate in parliament, the health minister said Tuesday.

Mrs Gandhi underwent a series of medical tests during the five hours she spent in the hospital late Monday and was then allowed to return home, Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

Mrs Gandhi, 67, had been suffering from fever for two days, but still decided to deliver Monday's parliamentary speech in support of a landmark bill that proposes to provide cheaper grain to more than 800 million across the country.

She felt unwell during the 9-hour long debate on the food security bill in the lower house of Parliament and was escorted to a hospital by her son Rahul and other Congress party colleagues.

"She is perfectly fine. There is nothing to worry," Mr Azad said, adding that Doctors have advised her to rest for a few days.