PM, Pranab visit ailing Jyoti Basu

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.

Dr Singh, who flew in to Kolkata 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 West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee Working President Pradip Bhattacharya were present 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 on 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 New Delhi after visiting the hospital. Media persons did not get a chance to talk to Dr 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.