Surjeet recovering,soon get discharged

NEW DELHI: Veteran communist leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet's condition has improved considerably and he has been taken off the life support system, doctors attending him said Saturday, adding he is likely to be discharged on Monday.

The 92-year-old Surjeet, a former Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary has been unwell for the last several months. He was admitted to the Noida-based Metro Hospital May 6 with fever and respiratory problems. He slipped into coma May 17 following cardiac arrest.

“His health has improved substantially. He has been taken off oxygen support,” a doctor attending the veteran Left leader asid.

“All his vital parametres are almost normal. He has started taking regular food though in liquid form,” the doctor added.

The Communist leader had been almost confined to his Teen Murti Lane residence in New Delhi for over a year because of ill health.

Several political leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani have visited Surjeet in the hospital.