Shukla critical but stable

Veteran Congress leader V C Shukla, who received bullet injuries in Saturday's Maoist attack, has shown "slight improvement" even as he remained in a "very critical but stable" condition.
Dr Naresh Trehan, the Chairman of Medanta Hospital, however, said today that it was "too early to say" that 84-year-old Shukla was out of danger.
He hoped that there is an improvement in the Congress leader's condition in the next 24 hours.
"Shukla is critical, very critical. But he is stable and we have the opportunity that the treatment we are giving can be a success. We are also optimistic today with the way he is responding.

"We hope we can treat him. But considering the factors like extent of trauma, injury and his age, we have to be cautious," Trehan said.
In the last 24 hours, he said, there has been a "slight improvement" in the parameters that are being measured by way of his lung function, by way of his response to the medicine we have given. "He is fully awake. We are hoping that his kidneys would recover," he said.

However, Trehan cautioned, that there is still a long way to go as his condition was still very serious and critical.
"His heart rate and blood pressure are stable. So, we are hoping that in the coming 24-48 hours, we could see more improvement. But it is too early to say that he is out of danger," he said.

Maoists had ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in Chattisgarh's Bastar district on Saturday, killing 27 people including senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma, and injuring Shukla and 31 others.