On Saturday, the jail authorities pasted a notice on the wall of the hospital ward where Lalu Prasad is undergoing treatment. (File)A day after Birsa Munda Central jail authorities barred visitors from meeting RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi accused the BJP of hatching a plot to poison her husband even as a party delegation decided to meet Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu on Monday to apprise her of the situation.
On Saturday, the jail authorities pasted a notice on the wall of the hospital ward where Lalu Prasad is undergoing treatment, barring visitors from meeting the RJD chief, citing “law and order” concerns. Some of his aides were also turned away when they came to meet Prasad.
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“The BJP government wants to kill Lalu ji by poisoning him in the hospital. If the Centre, as well as the state governments of Bihar and Jharkhand, want to kill him, if they want to kill the entire family of Lalu Prasad, they can do so, but their dictatorship will not be accepted,” Rabri Devi said in a video clip posted on her Twitter handle.
The people of Bihar and Jharkhand will come out on the streets if anything untoward happens to Prasad, the former CM said.
Addressing a press conference, RJD’s Jharkhand unit president Goutam Sagar Rana said it was a bid by the authorities to demoralise Lalu Prasad. “They are trying to demoralise our leader. Can they give evidence of law and order problem during previous meetings by visitors? We will tell Governor Droupadi Murmu about it,” Rana said.
बीजेपी सरकार ज़हर देकर अस्पताल में लालू जी को मारना चाहती है। परिवार के किसी भी सदस्य को महीनों से मिलने नहीं दिया जा रहा है। भारत सरकार पगला गया है। नियमों को दरकिनार कर उपचाराधीन लालू जी के साथ तानाशाही सलूक किया जा रहा है।बिहार की जनता सड़क पर उतर गयी तो अंजाम बहुत बुरा होगा। pic.twitter.com/p51SoWT7Hg
— Rabri Devi (@RabriDeviRJD) April 20, 2019
Prasad has been in jail since 2017 after being sentenced in four fodder scam cases. Since he founded the RJD in 1997, this is the first time Lalu is not campaigning, with his younger son Tejashwi Yadav taking on the mantle to steer the party.
As per the jail manual, three persons can meet Prasad every Saturday at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), where he is undergoing treatment for multiple ailments.
“The jail superintendent is helpless as it is being directed by the state and the central government. Not allowing Prasad to meet three persons on Saturday is a violation of human rights,” Rana said.
Two weeks back, Tejashwi had also complained that he was not being allowed to meet his father, calling it a conspiracy of the “dictatorial” BJP government. He also spoke about the “inhuman” treatment meted out to Lalu Prasad Yadav at the hospital by the police.
“I was in Ranchi Hospital since yesterday night trying to meet my ailing father but I was not allowed to meet him. This is a conspiracy by the dictatorial BJP government that is not permitting a son from meeting his father. This a conspiracy against Laluji related to his security in jail and also his hospital room is being raided every day despite him being under treatment,” Tejashwi had tweeted.
(With PTI inputs)
