Former Indian P.M. seriously ill

NEW DELHI, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee remained on a ventilator Saturday in a New Delhi hospital where he is being treated for a serious infection.

Vajpayee was admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences Tuesday, the Press Trust of India reports. Doctors diagnosed his illness as pneumonia and he was placed on a ventilator Friday.

"Vajpayee's condition is stable. His heart is stable but his lungs require support and that is why we are putting him on ventilation," said Dr. Sampath Kumar, head of Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences at the hospital.

Vajpayee, a former journalist and writer, was a member of various parties opposing the Congress Party, which governed India for decades after independence. He was one of the founders of the Hindu nationalist BJP.

He served briefly as prime minister in 1996 and headed a coalition government from 1999 to 2004. Since stepping down, he has served in Parliament.