Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 21: As the political row between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Tihar jail authorities continued over administering insulin to the arrested Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the capital city’s ruling party on Sunday accused the jail administration of flip-flop and repeated its previous charge of a move to ensure a “slow death” for the arrested chief minister at the behest of the BJP.
The AAP shared a letter written by the Director General of Prisons requesting a senior AIIMS doctor for Mr Kejriwal, countering the prison authority’s claim of adequate medical facilities in Tihar jail. AAP Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj hit out at the jail administration – alleging a flip-flop – and reiterated the party’s claim that a conspiracy was being hatched for Arvind Kejriwal’s “slow death” in the prison.
In a post on X, the Delhi minister said, “There was no diabetes specialist in the jail. After 20 days, a doctor from AIIMS was asked for yesterday. For so many days Arvind Kejriwal ji has been saying that take me to a diabetes specialist and give me insulin. Till now, the BJP government at the Centre was saying that there are specialists in the jail; what is the need for specialists from outside?”
In a letter to AIIMS, Sanjay Baniwal, Director General of Prisons, yesterday requested the hospital to arrange a senior diabetologist for Mr Kejriwal. But soon after the AAP’s charge, the jail administration clarified that a senior doctor from AIIMS was consulted via video conferencing following a request by the Chief Minister’s wife Sunita Kejriwal.
The Tihar administration responded to Bharadwaj’s accusation by stating that AIIMS senior specialists provided consultation to Kejriwal via video conference on Saturday. “After a 40-minute detailed consultation, Kejriwal was assured that there was no serious concern and was advised to continue with the prescribed medicines, which will be evaluated and reviewed regularly,” jail officials said. “Neither the issue of insulin was raised by Kejriwal, nor was it suggested by the doctors,” officials added.
The Tihar jail administration submitted a report to Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena on Friday. As per the report, the health of the chief minister was reviewed by a medicine specialist on April 10 and April 15. The specialist advised oral anti-diabetic drugs. The report also clarified that during the treatment, Kejriwal was never denied insulin, and the claim is incorrect.
Mr Bharadwaj and Delhi Minister Atishi had yesterday claimed that Mr Kejriwal was being pushed towards “slow death” by being denied insulin and consultations with his doctors. Atishi said Mr Kejriwal used to take 50 units of insulin daily before he was sent to jail. “At the behest of the BJP, a conspiracy is underway to kill Mr Kejriwal in jail. The chief minister has been taking insulin for 12 years, what is the problem for the Tihar administration to give insulin to him?” she asked.
The Tihar administration maintained that there was adequate availability of insulin in the jail dispensary and it could be administered to Mr Kejriwal “as and when required.”
Mr Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy. According to the medical records from RML Hospital, Mr Kejriwal was “neither advised any insulin nor any requirement of any insulin was indicated,” the Tihar report said and added that the chief minister’s health was reviewed by a medicine specialist on April 10 and April 15.
The specialist advised oral anti-diabetic drugs and it was “incorrect to state that Mr Kejriwal was denied insulin at any point of time” during his treatment, it said. The medicine specialist, after examining Mr Kejriwal, noted, “Considering all parameters and vitals of undertrial prisoner (Mr Kejriwal) since his lodgment in judicial custody, his blood sugar levels are not alarming, and administration of insulin is not required as of now.”
The ED had told the court that Arvind Kejriwal was eating food high in sugar like mangoes and sweets every day, despite having type 2 diabetes, to create grounds for medical bail. The administration had earlier sought a diet plan for the AAP chief, saying that Mr Kejriwal had been consuming high-sugar food such as “sweets, laddoos, bananas, mangoes, fruit chaat, fried food, namkeen, bhujia, sweetened tea, poori-aloo, pickles and other high cholesterol food on a regular basis.”
Mr Kejriwal, however, refuted the ED’s claims by asserting before the court that the food he consumed was in conformity with the diet chart prepared by his doctor.
