AAP claims Arvind Kejriwal lost 8.5 kg. Tihar jail rebuts: Delhi CM 'lost only…’
Delhi cabinet minister and AAP leader Atishi claimed that Arvind Kejriwal had “unexplained weight loss of 8.5 kg” since his arrest.
Arvind Kejriwal's weight loss news updates: Tihar jail sources on Monday said Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had only lost 2 kg in prison, and he was being regularly monitored by a medical board of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences or AIIMS. The response comes a day after Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party alleged on Sunday that he has "lost 8.5 kg" since his arrest and the Bharatiya Janata Party was conspiring to harm the chief minister's health by keeping him in jail. It also alleged that the AAP national convenor was not getting the necessary medical attention as a diabetic.
The unnamed sources told news agency PTI that the jail administration has written to the Delhi government's home department regarding the allegations levelled by AAP ministers and leaders, saying that such a narrative “confuses and misleads the public”.
On Sunday, Delhi cabinet minister Atishi claimed that Arvind Kejriwal had “unexplained weight loss of 8.5 kg” since his arrest, adding that that his sugar level had dropped below 50 mg/dL more than five times in prison.
Similar claims were made AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Monday saying the Tihar authorities have accepted that Arvind Kejriwal has lost weight. He claimed the AAP chief could go into a coma or suffer a brain stroke if his sugar levels drop while he is asleep.
“Making the medical report of any patient public is an offence. Several times the jail administration has made the medical report of the chief minister of Delhi public. This proves that a conspiracy is being hatched to play with the life of Arvind Kejriwal...Action should be taken on this,” Sanjay Singh told news agency ANI.
According to Arvind Kejriwal's health report shared by the Tihar sources, her weighed 65 kg when he first came to prison on April 1 and 66 kg between April 8 and 29, PTI reported. When he returned to prison on June 2 after a 21-day bail, his weight was 63.5 kg, it added.
"On July 14, his weight was 61.5 kg. So, effectively, he lost 2 kg," PTI quoted an official source as saying.
The sources added that Arvind Kejriwal is being provided home-cooked food but he has been regularly returning portions of it since June 3.
A medical board of the AIIMS has been constantly monitoring the chief minister and his wife Sunita Kejriwal remains in regular touch with the board, the sources said, PTI reported.
What did Tihar jail write in the letter?
- The Tihar jail administration has written to the Delhi government's home department rejecting the AAP's allegations regarding Arvind Kejriwal's health.
- In its letter, the prison administration said that “such a narrative confuses and misleads the public with false information and ulterior motives with intent to browbeat the prison administration”.
- "The blood pressure and sugar levels and weight of the accused is regularly being monitored and he is provided adequate treatment for all his ailments and is regularly having home-cooked food thrice a day. These facts are brought on record in the light of the media vilification being carried out by vested interest groups," it added.
Arvind Kejriwal's arrest
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy 2021-22. He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case related to the alleged scam from Tihar jail on June 26.
Kejriwal was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on Friday in the money laundering case but he remains in jail in connection with the CBI case.