Jyoti Basu ‘very critical’, on ventilator

Former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu, hospitalised after an attack of pneumonia, was still critical but doctors attending him Wednesday evening said his condition has slightly improved.

Marxist patriarch and former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, who was admitted to a Kolkata hospital with respiratory problems on Friday, remained in a “very critical condition” till late Wednesday. Basu, 96, diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia, was put on a ventilator and given an oxygen mask.

HT Image

“He is still in a very critical condition. His blood pressure and urine quantity are showing better response,” his medical bulletin said in the evening.

Cardiologist A.K. Maiti, Basu’s family physician, said, “We’re concerned with his physical resistance since he is 96.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee are expected to visit Basu on Thursday.