Former West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya taken off ventilation as health improves

The health condition of former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya improved on Tuesday and doctors treating him were considering putting him off non-invasive ventilation. Bhattacharya, 79, is likely to undergo a few tests to ascertain whether he has developed any further infection, a senior doctor of the hospital where the former CM is undergoing treatment said. He said the next course of the treatment will be decided based on the outcome of the clinical examination. “Bhattacharya’s condition has improved much. He had a good sleep at night. He is responding to treatment and is conscious. By evaluation of his current health condition, it seems that the antibiotics administered to him have managed to arrest the infection. “We will conduct a few tests today to ascertain whether he has developed any further infection,” the doctor, a member of the multi-disciplinary team treating the former CM, told PTI. Bhattacharya was rushed to a private hospital in the Alipore area of Kolkata with breathing troubles, and he was diagnosed with lower respiratory tract infection and ‘Type 2’ respiratory failure. He has been suffering from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and other age-related ailments. Bhattacharya took over as the chief minister of West 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 now Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. As Bhattacharya lost the 2011 assembly elections to Banerjee’s TMC, the CPI(M)-led Left Front’s 34 years of rule in the state came to an end – a loss from which it is yet to recover. Over the last few years, Bhattacharya stayed away from the public glare due to his deteriorating health and remained confined to his Palm Avenue apartment. 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, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, with oxygen support. Bhattacharya had stepped down from the CPI(M)’s Politburo and Central Committee in 2015, and gave up membership of the party’s state secretariat in 2018.