Priyanka demands Azad be shifted to AIIMS, says no ground to deny treatment

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said the government's policy of "oppressing" dissent has reached a point of "cowardice" as she demanded that Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad be shifted to AIIMS.

Azad is lodged in the Tihar Jail. He was arrested after he led a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Delhi.

"The government's policy of oppressing all expressions of dissent and protest has reached the point of cowardice. The lack of basic humanity in their actions is shameful. There are absolutely no grounds to keep Chandrashekhar in jail, let alone to deny him medical treatment if he is unwell. He should be sent to AIIMS to be treated immediately," Priyanka Gandhi said on Twitter.

The Bhim Army claimed on Saturday that Azad was unwell and needed immediate medical care.

Rejecting the claim, a senior jail official said Azad was "absolutely fine" and no such issue had come to their notice during routine medical check-ups by the official jail doctor.