New Delhi, April 30: Convicted RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Monday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he was told to leave AIIMS where he was being treated to return to Ranchi, shortly after Congress President Rahul Gandhi called on the former Bihar Chief Minister.

"It (shifting from AIIMS to Ranchi hospital) is under the pressure from the Centre, from Narendra Modi that I am being sent back there. It is entirely due to political rivalry," Lalu Prasad told reporters as he came out of AIIMS on a wheelchair after being discharged.

The RJD leader said shifting him back to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) in Ranchi was a conspiracy so that his health would deteriorate further. "I am being shifted to a place where there are no facilities. It is a tough time, but I will face it."

But AIIMS spokesperson B.N. Acharya said the decision followed the recommendation of a medical board set up for his treatment which found significant improvement in his health and that "he was discharged on Saturday" itself.

Some supporters of the RJD leader, annoyed over his "sudden discharge", allegedly misbehaved with the hospital staff and even damaged the glass door of Cath Lab, resulting in injury to a security guard. AIIMS asked police to lodge an FIR.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi called on Lalu Prasad at AIIMS and had a half hour meeting with him.

Lalu Prasad, who was admitted to AIIMS on March 29 for treatment of heart and kidney related ailments, wrote in a letter to AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria: "If I am sent from AIIMS to Ranchi medical college, in case of any danger to my life, sole responsibility will be on you all.

"Doctors are a reflection of god. They should not take any decision under pressure from any individual or political party. Their first duty is towards complete recovery of the patient's health. Till the time I am fully healthy, I should be kept here for treatment," he added.

The RJD leader said he had backache, frequent dizziness and had fallen in the bathroom several times.

However, the hospital in a detailed statement said: "Lalu Prasad was referred from RIMS Ranchi with peri anal abcess, high blood sugar and infection. AIIMS constituted a medical board consisting of senior faculty members from department of medicine, surgery, cardiology, endocrinology and nephrology for his care. 

"He was put on injectable antibiotics and then on oral antibiotics. His blood sugar was controlled and evaluation for cardiac and renal status was also done. He showed significant improvement. He had no fever and his antibiotics were stopped."

Lalu Prasad was admitted to RIMS in Ranchi on March 17 following complaints of uneasiness when he was lodged at the Birsa Munda Jail where he is serving a jail term since December 23, 2017 in connection with the fodder scam.

He has been convicted in four fodder scam cases since 2013 -- the latest being the Dumka treasury case in which a special CBI court sentenced him to 14 years in jail.

 

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ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.

“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.

The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.

Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.