Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday questioned why Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, didn’t choose Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for treatment and instead went to a private hospital.
"Public institutions need the patronage of the powerful if they are to inspire public confidence," Tharoor tweeted.
Shah, 55, was admitted to Medanta hospital in Gurugram on Sunday evening. The senior BJP leader took to Twitter to inform about his health and requested all those who have come in contact with him in the last few days to get themselves isolated.
On Monday, while responding a tweet on the premier hospital in Delhi, Tharoor said: “Wonder why our Home Minister, when ill, chose not to go to AIIMS but to a private hospital in a neighbouring state.”
AIIMS was established in 1956 when Jawaharlal Nehru was the prime minister.
True. Wonder why our Home Minister, when ill, chose not to go to AIIMS but to a private hospital in a neighbouring state. Public institutions need the patronage of the powerful if they are to inspire public confidence. https://t.co/HxVqdREura
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 3, 2020
Shah is the first Indian cabinet minister to fall victim to the pandemic. Top political leaders, including BJP president J.P. Nadda, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, wished Shah a speedy recovery.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan, both of whom have tested positive for COVID-19, have also been admitted to private hospitals.
