20100102

Jyoti Basu stable, responding to treatment


KOLKATA, 2nd January (IANS): Veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu, hospitalised after a pneumonia attack, was on respiratory support and stable, according to a medical bulletin Saturday. He is said to be responding well to treatment.


The 96-year-old former West Bengal chief minister is in the intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU) of the private AMRI hospital. "He was shifted to the ICCU early Saturday for constant observation and better management," said AMRI hospital executive director D.N. Agarwal. Basu was on a liquid diet and fully conscious. "He is responding well to treatment. He is talking. You can say he is stable," Agarwal said, reading out the medical bulletin.


A host of political leaders visited the hospital for an update on the Marxist patriarch's condition. While Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee visited Basu in the morning, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee called on the ailing leader in the evening. "He is ok. I saw him talking to the nurses," Banerjee said after coming out of the hospital.


Basu's personal assistant Joy Krishna Ghosh said: "He is stable." The hospital has drafted veteran medicine specialist Mani Chhettri as adviser to the medical board constituted for Basu's treatment. In the morning, the full six-member board examined Basu and decided to keep him in the ICCU for two more days.


Basu was admitted to the hospital in SaltLake close to his residence Indira Bhawan Friday evening following chest congestion and infection. A CT scan revealed that he was suffering from pneumonia. He is being administered intravenous anti-biotics. Basu has been ailing due to various old-age complications.

Photo by Amit Kar(GANASHAKTI)

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