First photo of Karunanidhi from hospital released, Vice President​ Venkaiah Naidu comes calling

The first official photo of former Tamil Nadu chief minister Kalaignar M Karunanidhi was released on Sunday on his official Twitter handle. The photo shows Vice President Venkaiah Naidu meeting the ailing leader who admitted to the hospital two days ago.

The photograph was taken at the Intensive Care Unit of the Kauvery Hospital in Alwarpet in Chennai. Along with Naidu, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit can also be seen along with Karunanidhi son and DMK Working President MK Stalin, daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi.

Naidu who had visited the hospital to inquire about the health condition of DMK chief said the doctors informed him that Karunanidhi's condition was stable. "Visited Kaveri Hospital and met former Chief Minister Thiru Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery," Naidu tweeted.

The hospital has maintained that Karunanidhi's condition is stable. In a statement on Saturday night, the doctors had said: "Karunanidhi's health condition continues to remain stable with ongoing active medical support. He is continuously being monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors in the ICU."

Sources in the hospital have said all of Karunanidhi's vitals are now under control. But reports have said he is suffering from a urinary tract infection that is not responding to medical intervention. This information, however, has not been confirmed by the hospital.

Karunanidhi, who turned 94 in June, was admitted to hospital in Chennai on July 18. The hospital had said he had undergone a procedure to replace his tracheostomy tube. He had the tube placed in December 2016 to help improve his breathing. Karunanidhi had been discharged after the procedure two days ago.

He had been taken to the hospital in that instance with breathing difficulty caused by a throat and lung infection that doctors said had been caused by some of the medication he had been taking.

Besides Naidu, TMC leader Derek O'Brien also visited the hospital to meet Karunanidhi. "I came here on behalf of the TMC and Mamata Banerjee. I met M K Stalin and Kanimozhi and inquired about Karunanidhi's health," he said.