Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury is in "critical" condition as he is undergoing treatment for an acute respiratory tract infection at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. The CPI(M) General Secretary was admitted to the hospital on August 19 due to pneumomia. However, in an update on August 31, the party said that he was being treated for a respiratory issue.
The 72-year-old politician is receiving treatment from a multi-disciplinary team of doctors who is closely monitoring his condition, which is "critical" at this time, said the party in a statement on Tuesday.
"Comrade Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist), is in the intensive care unit of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, being treated for an acute respiratory tract infection. He is on respiratory support. A multi-disciplinary team of doctors is closely monitoring his condition, which is critical at this time," read the statement by the party.
On August 19, he was admitted to the Emergency Ward at AIIMS due to a pneumonia-like chest infection and later shifted to the intensive care unit. In an update on August 31, the party said he was being treated for a respiratory issue.
He had recently undergone a cataract surgery.
Yechury succeeded Prakash Karat as the general secretary of the CPI(M) in 2015. He is known for carrying on the legacy of coalition-building from former general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet.
The CPI(M) veteran had collaborated with former Union finance minister P Chidambaram to draft the common minimum programme for the United Front government in 1996.
Yechury rose to prominence after he was arrested in 1975 during the Emergency while still a student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was elected president of the JNU Students' Uinon thrice in the span of a year between 1977 and 78.