The administration at Ranchi’s Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences has written to the municipal corporation after Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav complained of stray dogs barking in the vicinity and requested that his room be changed, ANI reported on Tuesday.

On Sunday, Yadav’s party submitted an application to the hospital director after the former Bihar chief minister, who is admitted in the cardiology ward, complained of poor hygiene, disturbance by stray dogs, and mosquito bites, reported PTI. The party’s National General Secretary Bhola Yadav said the veteran leader had requested that he be shifted to a ward that has 100 beds and only three patients.

RIMS Director Dr RK Shrivastava said the request has been forwarded to jail authorities. “We have written to the municipal corporation to remove dogs from the vicinity,” he added.

Bhola Yadav said the ward Lalu Prasad Yadav is in also smells bad because of a toilet wastepipe located nearby. “This imperils the health of our leader who suffers from infections,” he added.

Moreover, the ward is situated next to a post-mortem house, which attracts many stray dogs. “Their barks and howls are a nuisance and cause immense discomfort to the septuagenarian,” Bhola Yadav said. Lalu Prasad Yadav is a diabetic and needs to walk regularly and thus the location of the ward is not suitable for him, he added.

“We have, therefore, requested that he be shifted to the paying ward, which is newly built and comparatively more clean and tidy,” he said. “We hope the authorities will not have a problem with that since we are ready to pay the room rent and other charges.”

Janata Dal (United) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar criticised the Opposition party’s plea. “Until now, Lalu Prasad Yadav sought to stay out of courts, now he has started fearing dogs and mosquitoes,” he said. “The people of Bihar had feared a lot while you were in power.”

In June, Lalu Prasad Yadav underwent fistula surgery in Mumbai and is now undergoing further treatment in Ranchi. On August 30, he surrendered in a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in the city after the Jharkhand High Court refused to extend the provisional bail granted to him in a fodder scam case.

The former Bihar chief minister, who has been convicted in at least four cases related to the scam, was granted bail on medical grounds in May.