Cong hits back for ‘cheap retort’
Former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan and Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate on Monday blasted Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan for “name calling” and “cheap retort” to former PM Manmohan Singh for writing a letter to PM Modi on Sunday with concrete suggestions on how to deal with the coronavirus menace.
They told a press conference here his remarks were meaningless since the letter was addressed to the PM and not to him and it would have been better if Modi would have reacted. Of course, Vardhan could have given his inputs to the PM, they said.
The two leaders said Modi remains mum to such letters and instead lets loose his ministers to make irresponsible noises like Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called Rahul Gandhi as a “lobbyist” of foreign vaccine producers when he suggested India should import vaccines from whichever source possible and only five days later the government conceded his demand for importing the vaccines.
Wondering why the vaccination has fallen by 37.57% in the past 13 days, they said: "Acute vaccine shortage, oxygen shortage, medicine shortage and hospital bed shortage, but the Union Health Minister is focusing on petty politics.” On Vardhan’s claim the Congress-ruled states created vaccine hesitancy, Shrinate said: "Vaccine hesitancy is a natural concern and it is sad despite being himself a medical doctor, the minister labelled it as a politically fuelled hesitancy.”
A majority of doctors at the Delhi AIIMS, the premier institution of India, has not taken the jab. Is it their political response, she asked.
“There are more people turning out positive in Congress-ruled states like Maharashtra because more people are getting tested there, unlike the BJP-ruled states where the Covid figures are being rigged by the government to hide their incompetency. “BJP ruled states are witnessing the worst, in 7 cities of Gujarat alone, 680 deaths were witnessed and there are states like UP where the BJP government has unofficially banned private testing,” she said.
The party reacted sharply on Union Minister Piyush Goyal's comment on nonavailability of oxygen in hospitals in many states. Instead of the Centre rushing oxygen badly needed by the Covid patients, the Congress said it is a criminal stance of the minister suggesting “the states should control the demand (maang par niyantran rakhen rajya).”
Congress also circulated a tweet by general secretary Priyanka Gadhi Vadra, addressed to UP CM Yogi Adityanath that information is coming from many places the serious patients are not admitted in the UP hospitals without a letter from the CMO. “Many patients have died while waiting for the CMO letter. Please stop this rule to save the lives of people. Make it easier for hospitalisation of the serious patients,” she said.