Rahul Gandhi visits Delhi AIIMS, says patients forced to sleep on roads, footpaths

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met with the patients and their attendants awaiting treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi. He accused the Centre and the Delhi government of being "insensitive" to them.

The Congress party shared the information on its social media handle.

In a post on X, the party said Rahul Gandhi visited the institute on Thursday night where he interacted with the patients and their attendants.

The party posted videos of the visit where Gandhi can be seen talking to the people and assuring them. He listened to their problems and some shared written notes with him which Gandhi passed on to his staff.

"Waiting for months for treatment, inconvenience and insensitivity of the government – this is the reality of Delhi AIIMS today. The situation is such that people who have come from far-off places bearing the burden of illness of their loved ones are forced to sleep on footpaths and subways in this freezing cold," the Congress said in the post.

Giving details of the visit, the party said, "... Leader of Opposition Shri @RahulGandhi met the patients waiting for treatment, talked to them and listened to their problems.

The post said the Leader of Opposition met patients and their families outside Delhi AIIMS. "People who have come from far away places for treatment are forced to sleep on the roads, footpaths and subways here," said the party.

While attacking the Centre and the AAP-ruled Delhi government, the Congress said, "The Modi Government and the Delhi Government have left them to their own. They have turned their back on their responsibility."

Rahul Gandhi in a post in Hindi on Instagram wrote, "Burden of disease, biting cold, and government insensitivity today I met patients and their families outside AIIMS who have come from far and wide in search of treatment."

"On their path to get treatment, they are forced to sleep on roads, footpaths and subways - just keeping a flame of hope burning amidst the cold ground, hunger, and inconveniences," Gandhi further said.

One of the patients said, "He asked me for my phone number, and said that his team will contact me and help me as much as possible. My daughter is 13 years old and is a blood cancer patient. We arrived here on 3 December and there has not been proper treatment since then."

A patient, Govind Lal, said, "He asked me about my stay here. He also asked about the treatment of my daughters." A kin of a patient said they have been waiting in the cold and have no other option as they are poor.