Political debate rages over Kejriwal’s diet in custody

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 19

The war of words between the AAP and BJP over Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s diet in judicial custody has swiftly escalated.

A full-fledged conspiracy

}Kejriwal is being treated like a terrorist. I would like to emphasise that this is happening under a full-fledged conspiracy and ED officers, along with officials from the LG office and the jail administration who are deliberately spreading false news about the Delhi CM. — Sanjay Singh, Rajya Sabha MP

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had submitted to the court yesterday that the Delhi CM was deliberately consuming mangoes and sweets to manipulate his blood sugar levels. The agency said that the purpose of consuming mangoes was to create a medical ground for seeking bail.

Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Friday accused the ED and the jail administration of playing with the life of Arvind Kejriwal and hatching a deep conspiracy to kill him at the behest of the Modi government.

He said the Delhi CM was not being given insulin in jail. He said the ED was releasing false information about his diet, whereas according to jail rules, information about the health and diet of any prisoner cannot be made public.

He further said that Kejriwal was being treated like a terrorist. “I would like to emphasise that this is happening under a full-fledged conspiracy and ED officers, along with officials from the LG office and the jail administration who are deliberately spreading false news about Arvind Kejriwal,” he said.

“With what authority did they get Arvind Kejriwal’s false diet chart publicised in the media yesterday? What is the conspiracy behind this? Are you planning to give poison to him under some pretext? Are you trying to kill him? What do you want to do? What you propagated in the media yesterday was a complete lie,” he said.

Sanjay Singh said, “The Delhi CM has been a patient of diabetes for the last 30 years. He needs insulin, but the jail administration is not providing it to him.”

The AAP leader read out Kejriwal’s sugar report: “On April 12, his sugar level was 320; On April 13, it was 270; On April 14-15, it was 300; On April 16, it was 250; On April 17, it was 280. This is his real sugar report, the one that he discusses with his family.”

According to submissions by the ED, his blood sugar, which stood at 116 in the morning on April 4, rose to 280 on April 12 and 276 on April 14. The sugar dropped to 243 on April 15, 130 on April 16 and 181 on April 18.

Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the court had allowed Kejriwal to eat home-cooked food, but as per information of the ED, the kind of food he was eating and the type of items he was consuming were not good for his health.

“Due to this, there is a possibility that his sugar level could increase. On the basis of his sugar level, he wants to file a bail application. Kejriwal and his party are trying to take political advantage of his illness,” he said.

Delhi BJP leader Shazia Ilmi said, “Arvind Kejriwal knows what he should eat and what he should not. Why would any government agency take responsibility for his bad health and try to harm him?”

“He is alleging that the jail authorities are giving him food that could harm him. Since the time Kejriwal has been in custody, he had jail food only twice. Otherwise, he eats only home food,” she added.

Shazia said, “Anyone who has type-2 diabetes will not consume mangoes. He has had diabetes problem for a long time now.”

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