Senior CPI(M) leader and Siliguri mayor Ashok Bhattacharya, who suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday, was shifted to a hospital here on Tuesday where he underwent an angioplasty, family sources said.
Bhattacharya, 69, who suffered a cardiac arrest while he was at his home in Siliguri on Sunday morning, was rushed to a private nursing home in the north Bengal city, they said.
"Ashok da (Bhattacharya) had complained of uneasiness, vomited a couple of times and was sweating profusely while he was being taken to the nursing home," one of his relatives said.
Detailed tests revealed major blockage in two major arteries of the CPIM leader.
"One of these two arteries had almost 85 per cent blockage. He (Ashok Bhattacharya) requires advanced treatment for which he has been brought to Kolkata," he said.
Later in the day, a successful angioplasty was done to put the stents into the patient, he added.
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"A close examination of his angiography was done and a successful angioplasty was performed to put the stents into the patient. An Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) performed later confirmed a successful stent placement," a statement released by the medical facility said.
The patient is under constant observation and is responding well to the treatment, it added.
Bhattacharya, considered a mass leader, became a member of the CPI(M) in Siliguri in 1968.
He was elected the chairman of Siliguri municipality in 1988.
He became an MLA for the first time in 1991 and was appointed the state municipal affairs minister in the Left Front government.
Bhattacharya was elevated to the post of a cabinet minister, which he held for three terms till Left Front lost power the 2011 Assembly polls.