Priyanka Gandhi, Agra DM lock horns over high Covid-19 deaths
NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Agra district magistrate Prabhu Narain Singh have locked their horns over the high Covid-19 mortality rate in the city of the Taj. As Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday attacked the Uttar Pradesh government over the rise in Covid-19 deaths in Agra saying that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should clarify within 48 hours who was responsible for “pushing people into these adverse circumstances”, the Agra DM comes to the “rescue” of state government by asking the Congress leader to take back the claim within 24 hours citing that the allegations are baseless and misleading.
Tagging a media report, Priyanka Gandhi said that the Coronavirus death rate in Agra was 6.8 per cent, which was higher than in Delhi and Mumbai.
Of the 79 patients who lost their lives due to Covid19 in Agra, about “35 per cent –28 people –died within 48 hours of hospitalisation”, the Congress general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh said.
“Who is responsible for spreading the lie of ‘Agra model' and pushing people into these adverse circumstances?” she asked.
“The chief minister should clarify this to the public within 48 hours and fix accountability for the manipulation of the situation and number of Covid19 patients being carried out,” Priyanka Gandhi said.
She had also attacked the BJP government on Monday over the reported death of 28 Covid-19 patients within 48 hours of hospitalisation, saying if the Adityanath dispensation continues with its “negligence”, it will be dangerous. However, countering the charges of Priyanka Gandhi, the Agra DM said, “The reality is that in the past 109 days, Agra has reported 1,139 cases, of which 79 have succumbed to the virus. The report of 28 deaths in 48 hours is completely false.”
The DM further said that such reports will serve to demoralise the Corona warriors working round the clock to check the spread of the virus and also have an adverse impact on the common man.