PM, Pranab Mukherjee visit Basu in hospital

Kolkata, Jan 7 (PTI) Indian 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 (Lower House of Indian Parliament) 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 Wednesday after his condition deteriorated.


A bronchoscopy done on Wednesday 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. Mediaperson 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. PTI AKB
SKT