Basu remains critical, PM, Pranab visit hospital

The condition of 95-year-old marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu, who is suffering from acute pneumonia, today continued to be critical and he is being given ventilatory support, doctors attending on him said.

"Basu's condition showed some improvement yesterday. Today, however, there is no further improvement in his condition and his blood pressure is fluctuating from time to time," Executive Director D N Agarwal of private AMRI hospital, where Basu is admitted, said.

Basu was put on a ventilator at the ICCU yesterday after his condition deteriorated. A bronchoscopy done yesterday did not suggest any change in the line of treatment, Agarwal said. A small amount of liquid food was being given to Basu through a tube.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee flew in here and visited the hospital in the city's Salt Lake area. They were briefed on Basu's condition by the doctors.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and WBPCC Working President Pradip Bhattacharya were present at the hospital during the 20-minute visit by the Prime Minister.

"The Prime Minister assured the hospital authorities that if any other doctor is required for consultation from any part of India for Basu's treatment, he could make arrangements if informed," former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said quoting Singh. The Prime Minister also spoke to Basu's son Chandan.

Doctors on the medical board, monitoring the condition of the former chief minister, would meet again in the evening after which a medical bulletin will be issued.