Lalu Yadav was admitted to the AIIMS hospital on Thursday after a 16-hour train journey from Ranchi.
Highlights
- Lalu Yadav has been advised by doctors to get treatment in Delhi
- He took train after Jharkhand government denied air fare for his travel
- Jharkhand minister criticised the decision, called it "immature"
A political row has erupted after Lalu Yadav, the jailed Bihar politician who has been advised by doctors to get treatment in Delhi, was forced to take a train to the capital after being denied air fare by the Jharkhand government. The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief was
admitted to the AIIMS hospital on Thursday after a 16-hour train journey from Ranchi.
The episode has discomfited even one of his adversaries, Saryu Roy, a minister in Jharkhand. Mr Roy, who is a petitioner in the fodder scam, has openly disagreed with his own government on the denial of airfare to the former Bihar chief minister, calling it an "immature decision devoid of any political courtesy".
Mr Roy said: "I'm not aware of the facts but feel Lalu Yadav's request should have been entertained in view of his poor health, and this entire controversy was avoidable."
Lalu Yadav, jailed in Ranchi after being convicted in the fodder scam, paid for his travel on the Rajdhani Express, said his party leaders, furious at Jharkhand's ruling BJP for what they called "arrogance of power". The RJD chief was
shifted from jail to a hospital on March 17 after he complained of chest pain. Doctors later suggested that the 69-year-old, who is diabetic and had an open heart surgery in 2014, be
shifted to a bigger hospital.
"We can't understand what has happpened to today's BJP and why there's so much of arrogance of power," said RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari.
"We are surprised by the silence of senior BJP leaders who must remember that same Lalu Yadav, when he arrested then BJP president LK Advani in October 1990, flew him by chopper to Dumka (now in Jharkhand). And even when his family members came, Lalu went out of his way and provided state government chopper to go there."
A special Central Bureau of Investigation court on Tuesday allowed the veteran politician to seek treatment in AIIMS, following the recommendation of medical teams.
The train journey gave scores of supporters a chance to give the leader a massive send-off at the Ranchi Railway station, and an equally enthusiastic welcome in Delhi.