Kolkata, July 15 (IANS) Former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu, under treatment at a private hospital here, was recovering well but will be kept under observation for the next three-four days, a hospital official said Wednesday.
The 96-year-old patriarch of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), who was admitted to the hospital following gastro-intestinal complications and transient loss of consciousness Sunday, was shifted out of the intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU) to a room Tuesday as his condition improved.

The seven-member medical board formed to treat him carried out a routine check-up Wednesday and expressed satisfaction with his condition.

“He is progressing well. He is stable,” a hospital spokesman told reporters.

“We will monitor his condition for the next three-four days and then we will take a decision on releasing him. But as of now, we are not sure when we can take such a decision,” he added.

Basu was on normal diet and slept well Tuesday night.

The nonagenarian 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 decided against it.

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.