Kolkata: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
on Thursday visited the hospital where Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu
is fighting for his life and assured doctors that arrangements
would be made to bring experts from other parts of the country
if required for treatment of the ailing 95-year-old leader.
"The Prime Minister discussed the treatment procedures
with the doctors and assured them that if any other doctor is
required for consultation from any part of India for Basu's
treatment, he can make arrangements if informed," former Lok
Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said quoting him.
Singh, who flew in here with Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee, spent about 20 minutes at the AMRI hospital in the
city's Salt Lake area. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
and WBPCC Working President Pradip Bhattacharya were present
there during the Prime Minister's visit.
The doctors told the Prime Minister that they would
inform him if the situation so required, Chatterjee said.
The Prime Minister also spoke to Basu's son Chandan
and conveyed his best wishes for the ailing leader's speedy
recovery. "We are deeply touched by the trouble taken by the
Prime Minister by coming and visiting our leader," he said.
Doctors said the condition of Basu, who is suffering
from acute pneumonia, is critical and he is being given
ventilatory support.
"There is no further improvement in his condition and
his blood pressure is fluctuating from time to time," D N
Agarwal, Executive Director of AMRI hospital, said.
Basu, who was admitted to the hospital on Friday, was
put on ventilator 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.
The Prime Minister left for Delhi after visiting the
hospital. Mediapersons did not get a chance to talk to Singh
due to tight security arrangements.
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.
The other prominent leaders who visited Basu were CPI(M)
General Secretary Prakash Karat and senior CPI(M) leader
Sitaram Yechuri among others.
After visiting the veteran leader, Karat said "everything
necessary is being done for his recovery."
Yechuri said Basu was responding to treatment.
Union Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi also
paid a visit as did acting Governor Devanand Konwar, Assam
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and CPI(M) politburo member Biman
Bose.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 07, 2010, 17:50