New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Former Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet was stable Friday after being admitted to a hospital with severe respiratory problems, his party said. “His condition is stable,” said a CPI-M functionary at the party headquarters here. His daughter-in-law Manjeet told IANS: “He was admitted to Noida’s Metro hospital a week ago. He was critical yesterday but is better now.”

The 92-year-old had been confined to his Teen Murti Lane residence here for over a year because of ill health. He was taken to a hospital in Noida, adjoining Delhi, after suffering respiratory problems.

Considered at one point a kingmaker of India’s coalition politics, Surjeet is now a special invitee to the CPI-M’s Central Committee.