By IANS,
New Delhi : Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in a serious condition Saturday, four days after he was hospitalised here for a lower respiratory tract infection. “He is in a serious but stable condition and continues to be on mechanical ventilation following a lower respiratory tract infection,” All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) medical superintendent D.K. Sharma told IANS.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee visited Vajpayee at AIIMS Saturday morning. After enquiring with the doctors and his family about his health, Chatterjee said: “I am given to understand that Vajpayeeji is fighting the problem very bravely.
“I am very confident that he will come out of hospital very soon. I wish him a very speedy and complete recovery.”
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani, after speaking to doctors on phone, said the party veteran’s condition was going to improve.
“I was told that Vajpayeeji’s condition was going to improve,” he said in Nagpur where he is attending a BJP conclave.
Vajpayee, 84, was admitted to the VIP intensive care unit (ICU) of the AIIMS after he complained of difficulty in breathing Tuesday night. He was put on mechanical ventilation Friday.
“A multi-disciplinary team of doctors is regularly monitoring his health and all his basic parameters, including blood pressure, kidney and liver, are normal,” Sharma added.