Kolkata, Jul 30 (PTI) The health condition of former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya remained critical but stable on Sunday evening, a doctor of a city-based hospital where he is undergoing treatment said.

The 79-year-old politician remained on mechanical ventilation, he said.

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"Bhattacharya's health condition remained critical but stable on Sunday evening. He is on mechanical ventilation. Relevant conservative medical management is being continued. Oxygen saturation in his blood, as well as blood pressure, has improved.

"He is responding to the treatment but still is not out of danger. Our doctors closely monitored him and there was no major deterioration,” the doctor told PTI.

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A multidisciplinary medical team, after re-examining Bhattacharya, decided to conduct a CT scan of his thorax, he said, adding that it would be done on Monday.

"Blood pressure has improved and he is responding to treatment. We are hopeful that he will come out of this crisis," Bhattacharya's cousin Malavika Chatterjee said.

Several leaders of the CPI(M), including Biman Bose, visited Bhattacharya in the hospital.

The former chief minister was diagnosed with a lower respiratory tract infection and Type 2 respiratory failure.

Besides being on invasive ventilation, doctors are administering antibiotics and other supportive management.

On Saturday night, he was shifted to invasive ventilation from non-invasive one after his health condition deteriorated.

Bhattacharya, who was the chief minister from 2000 to 2011, has been suffering from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and other old age-related ailments for quite some time.

He has been away from public life for the past few years due to his health condition.

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

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)