Karunanidhi is doing fine, discharge soon

DMK president Karunanidhi, who is undergoing treatment in Chennai for breathing difficulty caused by throat and lung infection, is doing well, party treasurer and the nonagenarian leader's son M K Stalin said today.

Speaking to reporters, he said, "Doctors treating Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) told me that the party chief is all right and asked me not to worry."

It is said that the former chief minister would be discharged from the hospital and return home in a day or two. There was no official press release from the hospital, but doctors treating the 92-year-old former Tamil Nadu chief minister said that he was breathing on his own.

He had been admitted to the hospital three days ago for breathing difficulties.

On Friday he underwent tracheostomy , a procedure where a hole is made in the windpipe to remove fluid congestions caused by a bacterial infection. The tracheostomy (hole) is also used to administer oxygen to ease breathing.

It may be recalled that he had earlier been admitted to Kauvery Hospital on December 1, a short while after he reportedly developed a drug-induced skin allergy.