Kolkata: Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Jyoti Basu, who was hospitalised with pneumonia, was stable on Saturday and responding well to treatment, a hospital official said.
The 96-year-old former West Bengal chief minister was moved to the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit of the private AMRI hospital in the morning.
"He was shifted to ICCU for constant observation and better management," said AMRI hospital executive director D.N. Agarwal.
Basu was on liquid diet and fully conscious. "He is responding well to treatment. He is talking. You can say he is stable," Agarwal said, reading out the medical bulletin.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee visited Basu on Saturday.
The hospital has drafted veteran medicine specialist Mani Chhettri as adviser to the medical board constituted for Basu's treatment.
Basu was admitted to the hospital close to his residence on Friday evening.
