On Polling Day, Irani Again Blames Gandhi Hospital For Man’s Death

“This family is so disgusting that it is ready put an innocent to death as they love doing politics,” Irani said.

Union Minister Smriti Irani and Congress President Rahul Gandhi. 

(Photo: Reuters/Altered by The Quint)

On the day when Amethi is voting in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister Smriti Irani reiterated her allegation that a person died after he was denied treatment at a hospital in the constituency, where Rahul Gandhi is trustee, because he had an Ayushman Bharat card.

Irani also added, "On the day of polling, Rahul Gandhi has again betrayed the people of Amethi. I didn't know that he will become so arrogant that he will not turn up on the day of voting as well. What was the need of such humiliation?”

“This family is so disgusting that it is ready put an innocent to death just because they love doing their politics.”

Smriti Irani

Irani is locked in a bitter political battle against Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, which is considered the latter’s family bastion.

On Sunday, 5 May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had alleged that a man died in Amethi after being rejected treatment by a hospital associated with the Gandhi family for having an Ayushman Bharat card, even as the hospital denied the allegations as “baseless”.

At an election rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, Modi on Sunday alleged a patient died after an Amethi hospital with trustees from the Gandhi family denied him treatment saying it was not "Modi's hospital" where Ayushman Card would be accepted.

Modi also alleged that Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are not giving benefits of the Ayushman Bharat medical scheme to the poor and asked the people to teach the Congress a lesson in the polls.

“The Congress has always been insensitive to the poor. In Amethi (Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha constituency), a poor person, who had the Ayushman Bharat card, was denied treatment by a hospital whose trustees are from the Gandhi family,” the PM said.

Modi's comments had come hours after Irani released a video on Twitter in which a man is heard saying that his uncle died as he was denied treatment by the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital after being told that "Modi's Ayushman Bharat card" was not accepted there.

Hospital Denies Allegations

However, the medical director of the hospital, which lists Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as trustees of the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Trust which runs the hospital, denied the allegations as “baseless” and said the man was given all possible treatment and was later advised to go to Lucknow for further treatment as his ailments were found to be much more serious than what could be handled at the Amethi hospital.

“The claims in the tweet are baseless and politically-motivated. The deceased patient has been identified as Nanhe Lal (59), a resident of Sarraiyya village located in Musafirkhana area of the district. He was admitted on 25 April at 11 pm.”

SM Chaudhary, director of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, as quoted by PTI

"He was admitted in a very serious condition, and used to consume a lot of alcohol, as a result of which he suffered from liver failure. Nanhe Lal died on 26 April," Chaudhary said.

“There is no hospital in Amethi where the cure of liver ailments is possible. Apart from this, Nanhe Lal did not have any Ayushman Bharat card. We do not distinguish between patients based on Congress and BJP, and treat a patient as a patient only,” the director said.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)