It’s not the first such incident in country, says BJP chief
Speaking about the death of children at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur on Monday, BJP president Amit Shah said it was not the first such incident in the country.
Reacting to Congress’ demand that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath step down in light of the tragedy, Shah said it was the opposition party’s job to demand the resignation.
“Itne bade desh main bahut saare haadse hue hain, yeh pehli bar nahi hue hain. Aur Congress sarkaron main bhi hui hain.” (In such a big country, many such incidents have taken place, this is not the first time. And this has happened even under Congress governments.)
Shah said the deaths were a tragedy and an inquiry had been ordered by the state government, which was being monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office.
“But using this, you cannot deny our intentions to develop the poor. Those found guilty in the inquiry will be punished.”
Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his grief over the incident to the press. “Twitter is not the only platform to express his views,” Shah added.
Regarding the UP government circular asking for Krishna Janmashtami to be celebrated with pomp, Shah said the order was in keeping with local traditions. “If people want to celebrate the festival, we cannot stop them,”the BJP chief said.
The BJP MP from Sultanpur, Varun Gandhi, on Monday pledged to use the fund allocated for his constituency to build a child care facility in the central UP district amid an outrage over the death of over 60 children at a state-run hospital in Gorakhpur.
The children died at Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College within a span of a week in Gorakhpur, CM Yogi Adityanath’s hometown and parliamentary constituency, after its liquid oxygen supply was allegedly cut since it failed to pay dues to the supplier.
Gandhi pledged ₹5 crore from his Member of Parliament Local Area Development — the amount legislators get every year for development in their constituency — for creating a new wing at Sultanpur district hospital.
This, he said in a statement, will be accompanied by a matching grant of ₹5 crore more, which he will raise personally through donations and collection from CSR fundings.
“The human tragedy in Gorakhpur has left me jolted,” the 36-year-old MP said in the statement. “It is my hope that other MPs, who represent a rural constituency, also initiate something similar in their area to ensure our children’s care and protection.”
“The fund will be functional today itself ... With sufficient additional funds from external donors, this paediatric wing will be functioning full swing in six months from today,” he added.
Gandhi’s move comes at a time when the BJP-led government in the country’s most populous state has invited criticism for ignoring SOS calls about oxygen supply to the hospital, which treats hundreds of children suffering from Japanese Encephalitis (JE).
The state government has denied a cut in oxygen supply by a private firm over the delay in payment of ₹68 lakh caused the deaths and blamed many of the deaths on JE and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome.