AAP alleges Kejriwal weighed thrice in Tihar jail, not provided cooler

New Delhi: A day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal surrendered at the Tihar jail after completion of his interim bail in a money laundering case, the AAP leaders on Monday alleged that he was not provided cooler in his cell in prison and his weight was measured thrice in a "conspiracy".

The Tihar jail authorities refuted the AAP leaders' claim, saying the chief minister's weight was taken with one machine only and added that he was not provided cooler because the facility is provided after the court's order. "The weight of Kejriwal is 63.5 kilogram, which was measured only once when he surrendered on Sunday. There was no problem with the weighing machine. His other vitals, including blood pressure and sugar, are normal," a senior Tihar jail officer said.

In a press conference, senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi claimed that Kejriwal's weight was measured with three weighing machines during his medical examination in Tihar on Sunday. She also claimed that at a time when temperature in Delhi is ranging from 48 degrees to 50 degrees, Kejriwal was kept in a cell where not even a cooler was provided.

"Coolers are provided to even notorious criminals lodged in Tihar. While the popular Chief Minister Kejriwal has not been given the cooler. I want to ask the BJP and the LG how low will they stoop," she said. Atishi said that Kejriwal suffered from diabetes for 30 years and his weight was falling since last few months, and alleged cruelty against him.

"After he surrendered as a law abiding citizen, he has been kept in a heated cell without a cooler. I want to say to the BJP and the prime minister that not even the people of Delhi but the god also will not forgive them for causing atrocities to Kejriwal," she said. Atishi also alleged that during his medical examination on Sunday, his weight was measured on three machines that showed different readings.

His weight was found to be 61 kg and the Tihar officials used another machine that showed his weight to be 64 kg. The Tihar officials not satisfied with it used a third machine that showed his weight to be 66.5 kg, she said. "His weight was 70 kg when he was arrested by the ED on March 21 and it went down to 63 kg when he was weighed at home before surrendering on Monday. This shows a drop of 7 kg which is a serious matter yet the ED opposed his bail for medical tests," she said.

Atishi said Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj will take note of it because there appears to be a "very big conspiracy" behind this. The Tihar jail officer said that on May 10 when Kejriwal was released from jail his weight was 64 kg that was measured using the same machine that was used on Sunday. The officer said Kejriwal's BP was measured 120/76 and sugar level remained at 120 on Monday.

"Kejriwal is given the insulin twice a day and is under a regular watch of two doctors in the prisons," the officer said. The chief minister talked to his wife Sunita Kejriwal through phone on Monday evening, he said. On the question of not providing cooler to the chief minister, the jail official said coolers are given to those inmates, who are unwell and the court orders the authorities to do so.

AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also in a post on X reiterated the charge that three machines were used to weigh Kejriwal in jail. "In the jail, Arvind Kejriwal's weight was measured thrice with different machines, one showed 61 kg, the second 64 kg, the third 66.5 kg. Whereas when he was weighed at home before leaving, it was 63 kg. What kind of joke is this? LG sahab, please get the machine fixed," he said in his post. Singh also said that Kejriwal was kept in a small cell without any cooler even as temperature was 44 degrees Celsius.