The Congress and the left raised a din in Parliament on Friday over the death of lok Sabha member and Indian Union Muslim league (IUMl) leader E Ahamed and alleged “ill treatment” to his family members after he was admitted to a hospital here on January 31.
Agitated Opposition members demanded a Parliamentary committee probe and fixing of responsibility in case of lapse besides a statement by the Government.
While the Opposition members trooped into the well of the lok Sabha to register their protest and raised slogans leading to adjournment of the House, Sitaram Yechury(CPM) flagged the issue in the Rajya Sabha. He also demanded a probe and the manner in which the news of Congress leader’s death was “suppressed.” Ahamed, 78, a former Minister, collapsed during President’s Address to joint sitting of lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on January 31. He was declared dead in the wee hours of next day, hours before presentation of the Budget.
Highlighting the issue during Zero Hour, Yechury said various versions of the Ahamed’s death were doing rounds with some reports suggested the Congress leader was declared dead when he was taken to the hospital. However, some other reports indicated that Ahamed died subsequently in the ICU, the left leader said he said adding another version said the Congress leader was later shifted to trauma centre saying there are better facilities.
He expressed concern over manner in which death of "one of our senior colleagues of Parliament and former Minister was handled and the way in which news of his death was sought to be suppressed.”
Claiming that some reports suggested there was interference from the Prime Minister's Office(PMO), Yechury said it cannot be accepted. He also insisted that a person cannot be put on life support without permission of nearest relative, and wanted to know “how was announcement of death delayed.”
In the lok Sabha, the Opposition members alleged that Ahamed, 78, was shown alive under PMO “pressure” to allow Budget presentation on February 1 and demanded a probe by a Parliamentary Committee into it. The MPs raised slogans and uproar led to two adjournments before the final for the day at around 1.10 pm.
Raising the issue, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge claimed Ahamed's body was kept in the hospital in an "inhuman" way. Moreover, his daughter and son-in-law too were not allowed to meet for six-seven hours, Kharge said adding this “shows that how the Government shrouded such big incident to ensure the Budget is presented."
Kharge, along with his party MPs including Jyotiraditya Scindia, claimed Ahamed's body was kept at Ram Manohar lohia (RMl) hospital to send out message that "he was still alive."
He also alleged that the government indirectly pressurised the doctors and kept the body there and said even Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders of the party were not allowed to even see Ahamed's body.
leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Congress had information that Ahamed had passed away "much earlier" than it was formally declared, but the Government wanted to keep the body in hospital until the Budget was presented.
Meanwhile, the Government urged the Congress to “not politicise” sudden demise of Ahamed and sought cooperation of all parties in smooth conduct of Parliament.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the RMl Hospital's Superintendent has already given a detailed statement on the death of the leader. The Minister was responding to Azad's allegation that Ahamed had passed away "much earlier" than declared by RMl hospital.