Kolkata: Leaders of political parties in opposition to Bharatiya Janata Party, in charge of the state governments in Maharashtra and West Bengal targeted the Centre over its handling of the second surge of COVID-19.
India registered a record single-day spike of 1,26,789 new COVID-19 cases, pushing its infection tally to 1,29,28,574, while the number of active cases too went upwards to breach the nine lakh-mark again, Union Health Ministry data showed.
The Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra on Thursday accused the Centre of adopting a lackadaisical attitude towards Maharashtra amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as the BJP could not form a government in the state.
The allegation of the NCP, one of the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, comes in the wake of the state’s claims that it was facing a shortage of COVID-19 vaccine doses.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday refuted the state government’s claims in a long statement where he said the state was politicising the issue.
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The state NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase on Thursday said, “Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan needs to be reminded that Maharashtra tops the chart in the country as far as the vaccination drive is concerned and this is purely due to the efforts taken by Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope and his team.”
The state is proactive on testing, tracing, isolating and vaccinating, he said in a statement. “It was expected that Harsh Vardhan would respond positively to the call given by Tope,” he said.
“It is the BJP’s policy to use cheap media tricks to divert attention from core issues. It is the Modi government, which has a lackadaisical approach towards Maharashtra only because the BJP could not form a government here,” he alleged.
The data on the number of vaccine doses received and administered is available if the Union health minister wishes to see, Tapase said.
Also read: Resurgence of COVID-19 in India: A Tale of Six Unlearnt Lessons
The party spokesperson further said some state BJP leaders who have been opposing Maharashtra government’s “break the chain” directive need to be reminded that the Gujarat high court had to tell the Gujarat government to implement a lockdown, as it was unable to check the viral spread.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not attend the virtual meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the COVID-19 situation with chief ministers, PTI reported on Thursday, April 8.
Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay will be present in the meeting, unnamed sources in the state government reportedly told PTI.
Banerjee will be campaigning for the ongoing assembly elections in the state.
