‘HIGH COVID-19 MORTALITY RATE HAS EXPOSED GUJARAT MODEL’
Gandhi has also been attacking Centre over its handling of Coronavirus crisis
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked the BJP government in Gujarat over the state's high COVID-19 mortality rate, saying it had "exposed" the "Gujarat model".
Gandhi has also been attacking the Centre over its handling of the Coronavirus crisis.
"Covid-19 mortality rate: Gujarat: 6.25 per cent, Maharashtra: 3.73 per cent, Rajasthan: 2.32 per cent, Punjab: 2.17 per cent, Puducherry: 1.98 per cent, Jharkhand: 0.5 per cent, Chhattisgarh: 0.35 per cent," he tweeted comparing the COVID-19 mortality rate of Gujarat with that of states where the Congress is in power. "Gujarat Model exposed," Gandhi said. He also tagged a media report analysing the high death rate in Gujarat. Gujarat has the fourthhighest number of COVID-19 cases in the country at 24,055 with 1,505 deaths.
On Monday, taking a swipe at the government using a quote of world-renowned physicist Albert Einstein, Gandhi had said the only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.
He had also shared a graph that showed how the four phases of lockdown have flattened the curve of the economy instead of COVID-19 deaths, which are rising in the country. Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Tuesday accused the BJP government in Gujarat of “drastically reducing” its healthcare expenditure over years.
In a tweet, Patel, a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, cited data claiming that Gujarat is among the bottom states in terms of immunisation coverage.
“In 20 years, Gujarat is one of the handful of states where immunisation coverage has declined. Before 2000, Gujarat was spending 4.3 per cent of its expenditure on healthcare, in 2018 it was roughly 0.72 per cent. The entire state is paying a price for a flawed model,” Patel tweeted on Tuesday.
The data claims that Gujarat ranks 33rd out of total 36 states and UTS in achieving full immunisation.
Patel had questioned the COVID-19 testing charges of private laboratories.
In a tweet, he had asked why Ahmedabad-based private laboratories are charging Rs 4,500 when the same is Rs 2,200 in Mumbai.
As of June 15, the number of COVID-19 cases in Gujarat stood at 24,104 and the death toll 1,506.
Raising the issue in a press conference on Tuesday, Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda accused the BJP government of being a mute spectator to “looting” of people in name of testing.
“Why Gujarat's mortality rate is highest in the country? Why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not tweeting when people of his state are dying in such a large number? It was the high court which stepped in and allowed Coronavirus testing in private laboratories,” said Chavda.
He said it was the state government's responsibility to ensure that rates of tests remain affordable for people.
“If charges (for tests) are Rs 2,200 and Rs 2,900 in Mumbai and Andhra Pradesh, respectively, why Gujarat labs are charging Rs 4,500? People are being fleeced and the government remains only a mute spectator to this loot,” alleged Chavda.