Chetan Chauhan died not due to COVID, but because of poor treatment at Lucknow hospital: SP leader

A Samajwadi Party (SP) leader has alleged that Uttar Pradesh minister Chetan Chauhan, who succumbed to COVID-19 in a Gurugram hospital, died not because of the disease, but due to carelessness in his treatment at the state-run SGPGI here.

Chauhan (73), who was admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) after he tested positive for COVID-19, was shifted to the Medanta hospital in Haryana's Gurugram when his condition deteriorated. The cricketer-turned-politician died last week due to COVID-related complications, after being put on life support for nearly 36 hours.

Raising the issue in the Upper House of the Uttar Pradessh Legislature, SP MLC Sunil Singh Sajan alleged on Friday that Chauhan received poor treatment at the SGPGI.

The SP leader also claimed that Chauhan and he were admitted to the same ward of the hospital.

"Once during a round, a doctor and a nurse asked who is Chetan, to which the minister raised his hand since he was a simple person. He was asked as to when he got infected with the virus, to which he explained the entire matter to the hospital staff. At that time, another personnel asked Chauhan what do you do, to which he said he is a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government," Sajan said.

He added that he was angered by the behaviour of the hospital staff with Chauhan.

"When I could not control my anger, I told the doctor that Chauhan had played cricket for India, to which the doctor said 'oh, he is that Chetan'. After this, the doctor and the other staff left," the SP leader said.

The footage of Sajan's speech in the Legislative Council went viral on social media platforms on Saturday.

In a tweet in Hindi, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said, "While comparing the so-called better preparations for COVID-19 to that of the USA, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister had forgotten the kind of behaviour his cabinet colleague Chetan Chauhan experienced at a government hospital."

When contacted, SGPGI director Dr RK Dhiman expressed surprise at Sajan's statement.

"During treatment, I had spoken to Chauhan a number of times, but he never brought up the incident. And he went to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram citing family reasons. If there were any complaints, it should have been conveyed. The incident will be probed," he said.