Kolkata: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's medical condition remains critical as he is placed on mechanical ventilation at a private hospital in Kolkata. After showing signs of respiratory issues at his residence on Saturday, the veteran CPM leader was rushed to a private hospital for treatment. 

Earlier today, the hospital issued a bulletin informing that the 79-year-old leader is on mechanical ventilation and that relevant conservative medical management is being continued. 

"Former Chief Minister of West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is on mechanical ventilation. Relevant conservative medical management is being continued. His overall clinical status remains critical but stable. He was admitted to Woodlands Hospital on July 29 with lower respiratory tract infection and Type II respiratory failure," Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital stated in the latest medical bulletin. 

"The medical conditions of former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had improved to a great extent from Saturday when he was admitted to a Kolkata-based hospital with severe medical complications," CPM politburo member Surjya Kanta Mishra said, who visited the hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Earlier, in a medical bulletin issued by the hospital authorities, the former chief minister is 'haemodynamically' stable.

Despite being a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patient for quite some time, Bhattacharjee had always been reluctant to visit the hospital and preferred being treated at his two-room apartment where he resides with his wife, Meera Bhattacharjee. His close associates recall how he insisted on being released and going back to his home in past when he was admitted to the hospital after his health conditions turned critical. (With Inputs from IANS)