Karnataka Congress unit chief D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday tore into what he termed as the B.S. Yediyurappa government's "incompetency" in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Shivakumar made the claim in a tweet to respond to a comment by Karnataka Health Minister B. Sriramulu that "only God can save the state" from the pandemic.
Karnataka's Health Minister saying "Only God can save Karnataka" reflects poorly on @BSYBJP govt's ability to handle the CoVID crisis. Why do we need such a govt if they cannot tackle the pandemic?
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) July 16, 2020
This govt's incompetency has left citizens to god's mercyhttps://t.co/Do1No6qOQo
Shivakumar tweeted "Karnataka's Health Minister saying ‘Only God can save Karnataka’ reflects poorly on @BSYBJP govt's ability to handle the COVID crisis. Why do we need such a govt if they cannot tackle the pandemic This govt's incompetency has left citizens to god's mercy."
Sriramulu made the comment while interacting with mediapersons in Chitradurga on Wednesday. "Tell me whose hand it is (to control the disease)? Only God has to save us all. Awareness among people is the only way. In such a situation, the Congress leaders have stooped to the lowest level of politics. It doesn't suit anybody," Sriramulu told reporters on Wednesday. Sriramulu claimed the Congress was playing politics over the response of the Yediyurappa government to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah had accused the Yediyurappa government of failing to control the coronavirus spread due to lack of coordination and differences between ministers, mainly between Sriramulu and Medical Education Minister Dr K. Sudhakar.
Sriramulu dismissed the opposition's charges the Yediyurappa government was "careless" in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and that there were differences between ministers.
Sriramulu later sought to clarify that the intention behind his statement on Wednesday was that till the time a vaccine was developed to tackle the contagion, only God has to save all while people's cooperation was important.
"I had said that besides people's cooperation, God should also protect us but some media interpreted that Sriramulu has become helpless with respect to coronavirus spread," he said in a late-night video message on Wednesday.
"My intention behind saying so was that till the time a vaccine comes, it is only God who can save us. It should not be wrongly interpreted," he added.
Karnataka has been witnessing a spurt in COVID-19 cases and on Wednesday reported the highest single-day spike of 3,176 infections.
The state's overall tally stood at 47,253 till Wednesday with 928 fatalities.
