Decision on parole to Lalu awaited; Tejashwi cites reports of doctors attending him quarantined

With the Jharkhand government yet to decide on giving parole to jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday expressed concern over reports of doctors attending his father being quarantined after coming in contact with COVID-19 patients.

The RJD supremo has been admitted in the private ward of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) which has been designated as a coronavirus hospital'.

On April 13, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had said that the state government was seeking legal advice to release the incarcerated RJD chief on parole amid growing cases of infection at the isolation ward of RIMS.

Prasad has been under treatment for multiple chronic ailments in the paying ward of the RIMS.

I am worried because at the age of 72 years and suffering from chronic ailments like kidney, heart and diabetes, the RJD chief and my father needs more protective measures amid the pandemic, Tejashwi said in a moving appeal, apparently seeking early release of his father on parole.

"Only those who have families can feel what I am enduring, he said.

The RJD is part of the Hemant Soren-led coalition government in Jharkhand.

Lalu Prasad is in jail since December 2017 and serving 14 years in prison in connection with fodder scam cases.