Jyoti Basu , Jyoti Basu Death Rumor , Jyoti Basu Admitted To Hospital

Former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu, hospitalised after an attack of pneumonia, was still critical but doctors attending him on Wednesday evening said his condition has slightly improved.

The 95-year-old communist veteran has been put on ventilator since Wednesday morning.

"Basu is still critical. The medical board is constantly monitoring his condition. We have observed some positive changes in his health condition since morning," said a medical bulletin from the AMRI Hospital.

Basu had breathing trouble since morning.

Talking about the positive changes in his condition, a doctor said: "There has been some urine output. The blood pressure is to some extent under control."

A team of doctors monitoring the health of the veteran communist will again meet at 1100 hrs IST on Thursday to review his condition, the medical bulletin said.

Basu was hospitalised last week after a pneumonia attack and was admitted to the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit of the hospital in Salt Lake, the Kolkata suburb where he lives.

Basu was chief minister of West Bengal from June 1977 until November 2000, heading a Left Front government led by his Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). He stepped down on health grounds.

CPI-M leaders Amitava Nandi and Robin Deb visited the hospital. So did Congress leader and former Kolkata mayor Subrata Mukherjee and Trinamool Congress MP Somen Mitra.

"We heard his (Basu) lung condition is poor. But his heart and kidney are functioning well," Mukherjee said.

News@IBN