RJD chief Lalu Prasad left the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in a wheelchair on Monday afternoon after being discharged against his wishes.
The AIIMS said Mr. Prasad, who has been at the hospital since March, “has improved significantly”, and that he is being referred back to the Ranchi Medical College for treatment of his chronic issues. “He is currently stable and is fit to travel,” the hospital said.
Mr. Prasad, however, said he was not well enough to be sent back to Ranchi. “This is unfair; it is a conspiracy to worsen my health. I am being shifted to a place where there are no facilities. It is a tough time, but I will face it. My health has not improved,” he said, citing heart, kidney and blood sugar problems.
“My back hurts and I feel dizzy... I have fallen in the bathroom several times. My blood pressure and sugar keep shooting up,” he said.
The RJD called the move a “conspiracy to murder him.”
RJD’s charge
The former Bihar Chief Minister, who was jailed last year after being convicted in fodder scam cases, was shifted to the AIIMS from the Ranchi prison, for specialised treatment. On Monday morning, Congress president Rahul Gandhi visited him at the AIIMS.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal president had earlier written to the AIIMS director, asking that his treatment be continued at the hospital till he recovered.
Supporters of the RJD president created a ruckus in the hospital premises protesting the AIIMS decision, with his party alleging that there is a conspiracy to “murder” its leader by “forcing him out” of the premier hospital even though he continues to suffer from various ailments.
In the melee, RJD workers broke a glass door resulting in injury to a security guard, and abused administration officials, including the director, hospital sources alleged, adding a police complaint has been lodged against unidentified people over the matter.
Sources said the medical team formed to decide on the course of his treatment, had decided to discharge Mr. Prasad on Saturday and had prepared the discharge summary, but the RJD chief requested the doctors that he be kept in the hospital till Monday as he wanted to travel by Ranchi Rajdhani Express. Mr. Prasad left the AIIMS around 3.25 p.m.
( With PTI inputs )
