Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was discharged Sunday from a hospital here, 13 days after undergoing knee surgery, witnesses said.
Thousands of people thronged the Breach Candy hospital as Vajpayee made an appearance on a wheelchair before leaving for a city airport to fly back to New Delhi.
Speaking to reporters in the hospital, the Indian premier said he was eager to resume his official work.
"I am very happy I will be able to walk properly in a few days," he told reporters.
"I am also happy to be back home for Diwali," Vajpayee said of the biggest Hindu festival which will be celebrated with firecrackers and lights on Thursday.
"The hospital staff was very kind and took good care of me. I also thank the media for all the coverage they have given me here," Vajpayee added.
A kilometer-long (0.6-mile) banner put up outside the barricaded hospital carried thousands of get-well messages scribbled by children and actors and actresses of India's Bollywood in Bombay.
Vajpayee went into orthopedic surgery on October 10 in a 65-minute operation to have a joint in his arthritic left knee replaced.
The premier's office functioned during Vajpayee's hospitalization from the seventh floor of the hospital – BOMBAY (AFP)
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