Atal Bihari Vajpayee remains critical, leaders visit him at AIIMS

NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister and BJP patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee continues to be critical and remains on advanced life support system at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for the second day, hospital officials said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited AIIMS to inquire about the health condition of the former Prime Minister. This was his second visit to the hospital in less than 24 hours. The Prime Minister was at the hospital for a little over 45 minutes.

Union health minister JP Nadda, who visited the former Prime Minister at AIIMS, said: "Atal Bihari Vajpayee continues to remain critical but doctors at AIIMS are putting their best efforts to restore him to health."

"Doctors are treating him. He is critical. And doctors are doing their best to restore his health," Nadda told reporters.

As anxiety grew about the state of the 93-year-old leader's health, a stream of leaders, including Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, BJP president Amit Shah Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh, visited him in hospital.

Several government events have either been postponed or cancelled.

A health bulletin from the premier hospital said Vajpayee's "condition continues to be the same. He is critical and on life-support system".

The former Prime Minister was admitted to the hospital on June 11 with a kidney tract infection, urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest congestion.

Among those who visited the hospital were Union ministers Ram Vilas Paswan, Radha Mohan Singhas well as National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

BJP veteran LK Advani, who along with Vajpayee expanded the party's base in 1990s, also visited the former PM.

"We all should pray for his recovery. His condition is serious ... We should not forget that he is a leader who wanted to make the country strong. He wanted peace not only in our country but the whole world," Abdullah said.

Last night, the hospital said Vajpayee's condition had worsened and he was on life-support systems.

A team of doctors form various departments including nephrology, gastroenterology and cardiology are taking care of Vajpayee.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the hospital on Wednesday evening to enquire about Vajpayee's condition. He reached around 7.15pm and spent about 50 minutes there.

Vajpayee, a diabetic, has only one functional kidney. He suffered a stroke in 2009 that weakened his cognitive abilities. Subsequently, he developed dementia.

A large crowd of mediapersons and others have gathered outside the hospital in south Delhi to get updates on Vajpayee's heath, affecting movement of traffic on the road today. Policemen have been deployed to manage the crowd and traffic outside the hospital.

Delhi Police has put traffic restrictions around AIIMS.

BJP postpones its national executive

The BJP has postponed its two-day national executive, slated for August 18-19, in the wake of critical health condition of Vajpayee.

"As of now, the national executive has been postponed, and its dates will be finalised later," a party leader said.