Centre, Oppn fight it out over O2 shortage deaths
Maha, Guj, MP claim there were no deaths due to O2 shortage in these states
As the Opposition parties, including the Congress, AAP and Shiv Sena, tried to corner the Narendra Modi government over its written reply in Parliament that no death due to oxygen shortages had taken place in the country, the ruling BJP on Wednesday reminded the Opposition parties that health was a state subject and the Centre only compiles the data sent to it by the states and Union territories, and no state or UT in their data reported deaths due to oxygen shortage in the Covid-19 second wave.
Reacting to the government’s reply in the Rajya Sabha, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi claimed the deaths happened because “the government increased oxygen exports by about 700 per cent”. She also alleged that the deaths occurred as the government did not arrange tankers to transport oxygen and ignored the advice of the empowered group and a parliamentary committee.
Accusing the Opposition of having “double standards” and doing politics over the pandemic, BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said the states where these parties were in power had claimed that no one died due to the lack of oxygen.
“You (Rahul) have acted as a Twitter troll throughout the pandemic by writing two-line lies frequently… The Opposition need to be exposed and should be questioned why they claim something in public and something else before the court,” said Mr Patra.
AAP LEADER Manish Sisodia accused BJP-led Central government of not allowing formation of a committee for probing deaths caused due to the oxygen shortage during the Covid second wave.
Citing the affidavits submitted in the Bombay high court and Delhi high court respectively by the state government saying no death due to oxygen shortages was reported in Maharashtra and Delhi, the BJP attacked both the Opposition parties of criticising the Centre over the issue. Mr Patra also quoted a statement by Chhattisgarh health minister T.S. Singh Deo that the state was an oxygen surplus state and reminded the AAP of the reported deaths of 21 people at Delhi’s Jaipur Golden Hospital in April, when the committee formed by the AAP after the high court order and the Delhi government had said those who died had comorbidities.
“These Opposition-ruled states had spoken about patients dying due to the oxygen crisis when the second wave was peaking as they wanted to target the Modi government, but have taken a different stand in writing and in their submission to the courts,” said Mr Patra, adding that it only showed they wanted to politicise the whole issue.
After the BJP accused the AAP of double standards, AAP leader Manish Sisodia, Delhi’s deputy chief minister, accused the BJP-led Central government of not allowing the formation of a committee for probing deaths caused due to the oxygen shortage during the Covid19 second wave in Delhi.
Taking on Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, who said he was “speechless” and that a case should be filed against the Centre for “lying”, minister of state for external affairs Meenakshi Lekhi responded: “Mr Sanjay Raut, I am aghast at the doublespeak of double defaulters, the Shiv Sena and the Congress… Please provide the number of deaths in the state of Maharashtra due to oxygen shortage to the Central government and also to the press. (The) same logic applies to Delhi, which was the epicentre.”
Meanwhile, Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope claimed that the state government never reported any death due to shortage of oxygen during the second wave.
Responding to the Union government’s remarks on Wednesday, Tope said that they had never said that the people had died owing to the shortage of oxygen in Maharashtra. “Many of them had issues like comorbidities and other illnesses. No death has taken place due to shortage of oxygen,” he said.
NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said that the country has witnessed the deaths due to non-availability of oxygen in Gujarat. The doctors had left the hospitals located in Ghaziabad, Noida and NCR due to non-availability of oxygen. “I think that the Union government is not serious on this issue,” Mr. Malik added.
Whereas, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that no Coronavirus patient died in the state on account of shortage of medical oxygen during the second wave of the pandemic.
“Not a single Coronavirus patient died due to lack of oxygen in Gujarat. Hospitals in the state treated over 8.5 lakh patients during the second wave. Of these, 8.25 lakh patients went home after recovering,” the Chief Minister told reporters in
Junagadh when asked about the controversy.
Amid the row, BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh also claimed that the state saw no deaths due to oxygen shortage during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Minister for medical education of the state Vishwas Kailash Sarang said the Centre’s statement made in the Rajya Sabha in this regard is a fact.
Speaking to reporters the Madhya Pradesh minister thanked the Centre for its efforts to address the demand for oxygen, including the use of IAF flights and trains for transport of the gas.
“In our state, no death has happened anywhere due to oxygen shortage. Like the Central minister said in the House, that is the truth,” he said in an apparent reference to the written reply of minister of state for health bharati Pravin Pawar in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.