Veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu was admitted to a city hospital here on Friday evening after he complained of respiratory distress. He was diagnosed to be suffering from pneumonia.
“He is suffering from an infection in his lower respiratory tract with consolidation. His condition is stable,” said Dr. Debashish Sharma, official spokesperson of the hospital.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called up Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to inquire about Mr. Basu’s health. Secretary of the West Bengal State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Biman Bose and the former Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, were among those who visited him at the hospital.
A team of six specialists is attending on the nonagenarian leader. He has been put on a light but normal diet, Dr. Sharma said.
Mr. Basu was last hospitalised in July 2009 after he lost consciousness for a while at his Salt Lake residence. He was in hospital for eight days, but doctors later set up an emergency facility equipped with an ECG monitor, defibrillator and pulse oximeter to monitor his heart condition at his residence.
Medical tests conducted after a fall prior to his last bout of hospitalisation revealed a clot in his brain, but surgery was ruled out considering his age.
