AAP slams Delhi L-G's letter on Arvind Kejriwal's food intake

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday assailed Lt Governor VK Saxena's communication for allegedly insinuating that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was "deliberately" making himself sick and accused the BJP of hatching a "sinister plan to kill" the AAP leader.

A communication from the LG office to the chief secretary on Friday said that Saxena expressed concern over the "non-consumption" of prescribed medical diet and medicines by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody and asked officers to find out its reasons from him.

The communication, citing a report by Tihar Jail's Superintendent (Prison) regarding the health status of Kejriwal, noted that it brings out the fact that there are several instances of "willful low-calorie intake" by the chief minister, despite sufficient home-cooked food being provided to him.

The report also claimed that Kejriwal refused to take insulin before dinner on July 7.

The letter further intensified the political spat on the issue of Kejriwal's health in jail.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh slammed the LG in a post expressing his disappointment on the claim.

"What kind of joke is this LG Sir? Would a man reduce his sugar levels at night? Which is very dangerous. LG Sir, if you do not know about the disease then you should not write such a letter," Singh said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in a statement alleged that the "BJP is hatching a sinister plan to kill Kejriwal." Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva hit back at AAP, saying the report of the Tihar jail superintendent has "exposed" Kejriwal's "conspiracy" to gain "sympathy" by "deliberately" taking fewer calories of food and declining insulin to claim weight loss and high blood sugar level in jail.

Senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi claimed Kejriwal's sugar level has dipped below 50 mg/dL more than 8 times in jail and added, "He may go into a coma and there is also a risk of brain stroke in such a situation." Atishi also attacked the LG saying the communication from his office is "very unfortunate" and does not befit a constitutional head of the state.

"Does LG think that any person will deliberately make himself sick like this? This is a conspiracy of the Bharatiya Janata Party. They know that the longer he stays in jail, the more his health will keep deteriorating.

"So I would like to request LG Sahab that it does not suit him to make such comments on anyone's health," she said.

The Delhi BJP president charged that Kejriwal has been taking less quantity of food from June 6 to July 13 to shed weight so that he could gain sympathy from the court and get bail.

"He campaigned hectically for 21 days, after getting bail from the court, during Lok Sabha polls and he had no health problems then. But, now he is trying to gain sympathy on the pretext of his health condition," Sachdeva charged.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, on March 21 and has been granted bail by the Supreme Court. , However, he is currently lodged in Tihar in a connected CBI case.