Noida, May 19 : Veteran Marxist leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet’s condition continues to be in a critical state. He is suffering from an acute respiratory problem.

Surjeet was admitted to the Metro hospital in Noida ,Uttar Pradesh where he slipped into coma on May17.

"He is in coma and is not responding," said Dr Purushottam Lal, the head of the hospital who is attending him.

"Though his vital organs are stable, his condition is neither better nor worse. He had seizures and was medicated for it and his brain is still functioning," he added. Doctors say that his chances of survival are “very slim”.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi met Surjeet and enquired about his condition.

For the first time, he was not included in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau at the party's 19th congress in April this year due tohis ailing condition. Instead, he was nominated as a special invitee to the Central Committee.(ANI)