Express News Service
NEW DELHI/PATNA : As RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was discharged from AIIMS in New Delhi and sent by Rajdhani Express to Ranchi on Monday, a political blame game erupted in Bihar over the issue as well as his meeting with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.Lalu will be taken to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) after he arrives in Ranchi on Tuesday, party sources said. The 69-year-old leader, who has been sentenced to jail terms adding up to over 27 years in four fodder scam cases, has alleged the move was “political vendetta”.
“This is unjust, it is a conspiracy to harm my health. I am being shifted to a place where there are no facilities. It is a tough time, but I will face it,” Lalu, who suffers from kidney ailments, high BP and diabetes, told reporters.Lalu’s supporters created a ruckus on the AIIMS premises protesting his discharge and alleging there was a conspiracy to murder him. They smashed a glass door and abused security guards and administration officials, hospital sources alleged. The AIIMS administration has filed a complaint with Delhi Police.
The RJD leader’s younger son and Bihar Opposition leader, Tejashwi Yadav, has questioned the move. Several RJD leaders dubbed it a “political conspiracy”. They claimed the kind of treatment he required was not available in Ranchi.“He was transferred from RIMS to AIIMS for better treatment. The infections he is suffering from and his kidney trouble remain critical. AIIMS doctors had said his kidneys are damaged by 60 per cent. He also has high BP and diabetes. Shifting him back to Ranchi is shocking,” said Tejashwi.
Senior RJD leader Shakti Singh Yadav said: “Shifting Laluji from AIIMS to RIMS is clearly the result of political pressure from the Centre. The people of Bihar consider it an utterly malicious step. If anything happens to him, the entire blame will be on the Centre and the AIIMS administration.”Lalu himself wrote to the AIIMS director. “I don’t want to be shifted back to the Ranchi hospital as it is not properly equipped to treat my ailments,” he wrote.
Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, of the BJP, rubbished the charges. “Lalu is a convict. A panel of medical experts examining him recommended his discharge as his ailments can be treated in Ranchi and there is no need for him to be in Delhi. There is no politics involved in it. All such charges are baseless.”
“The meeting between Rahul Gandhi and Lalu Yadav speaks volumes about the two parties’ stand on corruption. It was Rahul who tore the ordinance aimed at saving corrupt politicians like Lalu. But the country has now seen a different Rahul,” said JD(U) leader Neeraj Kumar.Sources said Rahul was with Lalu, who was shifted to AIIMS on March 28, for around 30 minutes and enquired about his health. Lalu, who has been lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail at Hotwar near Ranchi since December 23, was taken to RIMS on March 17 after he complained of acute pain. He was shifted to AIIMS for treatment of diabetes, hypertension and cardiac problems.
