Buddhadeb's health condition improves considerably

The health condition of former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has improved considerably and he is "doing fine", doctors treating him said on Thursday.

The 79-year-old CPI-M leader is on intermittent non-invasive ventilatory support and is alert, they said.

He is being fed through Ryles tube and a swallow assessment is being done, a member of the multidisciplinary team of doctors treating him at a city private hospital said.

"His overall clinical status is stable ... He is doing fine and is alert. He is talking to doctors and visitors and wants to return home. He is on intermittent non-invasive ventilatory support. His blood parameters have improved but the IV antibiotics will be continued till Saturday," the doctor told PTI.

IV antibiotics are antibiotics that are administered directly into a vein to enter the bloodstream immediately and bypass the absorption in the gut. This delivery method is used for severe infections because intravenous antibiotics reach tissues faster and at higher concentrations than oral antibiotics.

Bhattacharjee was rushed to the hospital on July 29 with breathing troubles. He was diagnosed with lower respiratory tract infection and 'Type 2' respiratory failure. He has been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other age-related ailments. The Marxist leader took over as the chief minister of Bengal in 2000 from party senior Jyoti Basu. He remained in the post till 2011, handling a tenure marked by agitations over the acquisition of land for industries led by the present Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Bhattacharjee lost the 2011 assembly election to Banerjee's TMC and the CPI(M)-led Left Front's 34-year-long rule in the state came to an end that year.

Over the last few years, he has stayed away from the public glare due to his deteriorating health and remained confined to his tw-roomed government apartment.

Bhattacharjee stepped down from the CPI(M) politburo and central committee in 2015 and gave up membership of the party's state secretariat in 2018.

He was last seen in public when he surprised party workers by arriving unannounced at the Left's rally at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata before the 2019 Lok Sabha poll with oxygen support.