Thaindian News

Kolkata, July 14 (IANS) Former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu was Tuesday shifted out of the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit (ICCU) after his condition improved, a hospital official said.
“The medical board met to review his condition and decided to shift him out of ICCU to a single room. He is progressing well,” D.N. Agarwal, executive director of AMRI hospital, told reporters here.

He said Basu was given a normal diet Monday night and a normal breakfast Tuesday.

“He had a good sleep last night. He will be on a normal diet today also,” Agarwal said.

The nonagenarian leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader underwent a brain scan Monday. It showed that a clot caused by a fall last year at his home was gradually healing.

Doctors had then advised Basu, who was chief minister for 23 long years until 2000, to undergo surgery but he did not opt for it.

A seven-member team comprising specialists in cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, surgery and geriatrics is monitoring his health.

Basu is suffering from “gastro-intestinal distension” and had a transient loss of consciousness Sunday morning.

He injured his left leg after another fall at his home May 13. This prevented him from casting his vote in the Lok Sabha polls two months back - the first time in 63 years that he did not vote.

In 2007, after a fall in the bathroom, one of his ribs had also cracked.

Born 1914 in Kolkata, Basu became chief minister in June 1977. He stepped down voluntarily on health grounds in November 2000.

One of the founding members of the CPI-M, Basu almost became India’s prime minister in 1996 as the head of a coalition government. But the CPI-M vetoed the proposal.