Congress demands HC judge monitored probe
DEHRADUN: Politics has heated up in Uttarakhand over fake testing during the Haridwar Mahakumbh with the Congress lashing out at the BJP government for “playing with the lives of millions of people by being careless about COVID testing during Mahakumbh”.
The Congress has demanded probe under the monitoring of a sitting high court judge in the matter. The BJP countered by saying the Congress was just trying to politicise the issue while the reality is the government is serious about the matter and has already ordered a probe so that all those responsible for the fake testing could be booked.
Pritam Singh, president state Congress in a press briefing here on Saturday, said if the BJP government doesn’t concede to their demand regarding probe under monitoring of a sitting high court judge, Congress will start a state-wide agitation from June 25. “It is not just an economic offence but a serious issue that had bearing on the lives of millions of pilgrims who came to Mahakumbh from across the country. So many people died due to COVID infection in Mahakumbh. We demand that those who are responsible in the BJP government for this should be booked for murder,” he said.
Singh said it is strange that at a time when people want to know the truth about fake COVID tests, former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and current chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat are indulging in blame-game.
“Fake tests during Mahakumbh, which was called by some as super-spreader, is no less a seditious issue”, he said.
The Congress leader also raised many questions like how a firm not recognised by ICMR was given contract and how there was such a wide gap in the positivity rate between Haridwar and the rest of the districts in the state. Singh said at a time when millions were coming to Haridwar, how could it report such low positivity rate compared to other districts of the state.
“Clearly a major fraud was committed in Mahakumbh, which we will expose at any cost. Congress won’t sit silent on this issue. I will observe fast on Ganga Ghat on June 25 in Haridwar, after which we will come with our strategy for the statewide agitation”, he said.
Devendra Bhasin, spokesperson, state BJP, said when the state government came to know about it, not only it ordered a probe in it, but also formed a Special Investigation Team for speedy probe so that the culprits can be booked and strict action can be taken against them. “We are not hiding anything...”
Former CM Trivendra Singh Rawat on Thursday, while seeking an impartial investigation, said: “It is a serious crime, not negligence. Stringent action should be taken and an impartial investigation should be conducted in this matter.”