Leaders of the Portuguese far-right party were taken to hospital after collapsed at a rally before the country's third rapid election since 2022.

André Ventura's courage, outspoken leadership style helped make populist, anti-immigrant party's third-largest political force sick at an event held Thursday in the southern town of Odemira, two days after a similar episode.

The rally video shows Ventura, 42, grabbing her chest, trying to remove his tie and then falling into the arms of the assistant who took him away. He was taken to a local clinic and then transferred to a hospital in Seúbal near Lisbon for medical procedures.

Ventura was discharged from hospital in Faro on Wednesday after her last collapse. The hospital said he suffered from gastric reflux and esophageal spasm caused by high blood pressure.

Chega MP Marta Silva told CNN Portugal on Thursday that an electrocardiogram in the ambulance immediately after the second crash showed that "everything is good, his heart is good", which could be another type of spasm.

Ventura posted a photo of herself, signing that she gave a thumbs up on a hospital bed Thursday afternoon. He wrote on X: "It's a setback and a difficulty. It won't disappoint us. Keep going... Keep going! Portugal is more important, and it's this country that drives us."

Chega appears to have finished third again on Sunday, behind the ruling, the Center-Right Democratic League (AD) and the Socialist Party (PS). Recent polls have brought ads to 33%, PS to 26%, and Chega to 17%.

Ventura's efforts to win a seat in the government have been rejected by Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, who repeatedly ruled out any agreement with far-right parties.

Chega has promised to clean up Portuguese politics at the same time as a speech to the Roman population, and a series of harmful allegations linked to some of its members have been hit in recent months.

In January, Chega was accused of deporting one of his MPs after stealing suitcases at several airports. Another party member was caught driving under the influence of drunkenness the same month, and one-third were accused of oral delivery with a 15-year-old underage man at the time.

Reuters contributed to this report