Vajpayee discharged from AIIMS

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was on Sunday discharged from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences as doctors declared him fit to go home after 26 days of stay at the Intensive Care Unit, family sources said.

"It is a blessing for the Bharatiya Janata Party that he has recovered and returned home. He is alright and will be taken care of by doctors at home," BJP leader Vijay Goel, who was present at AIIMS, told PTI.

Vajpayee's adopted daughter Namita Bhattacharjee was besides the 84-year-old leader at the time of the discharge.

The veteran leader was admitted to the hospital after complaints of chest infection on February 3 which was later diagnosed as pneumonia.

He was kept on ventilator support as he was not able to breathe on his own following the lung infection.

Doctors conducted tracheotomy on Vajpayee on February 13 to ease his respiration process.

From the hospital bed, Vajpayee has kept an update on happenings around the world. He has also listened to his favourite old Hindi movie songs and watched the repeat telecast of Oscar awards, sources said.