JD(U) legislator Mewalal Choudhary and wife Nita, also an ex-MLA, sustained severe burns in a gas cylinder explosion in Munger district, police said.
Mewalal is the JD(U) MLA from Tarapur Assembly constituency in Munger. His wife had also represented the constituency in the past.
While Nita suffered 90 per cent burns and was battling for life, her husband escaped with burns on his hands, Munger Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Hari Shankar Kumar said.
Sources in the neighbourhood said the couple woke up to foul smell in the middle of the night and switched on the lights in the kitchen, triggering the cylinder blast.
The ASP, however, said the reason behind the explosion could be ascertained only after a thorough probe.
Hari Shankar said the couple was rushed to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Bhagalpur, where the doctors referred Nita to Patna Medical College and Hospital.
“From what we have heard, Nita is being airlifted to Delhi from Patna for treatment,” he added.