A political feud broke out on Saturday over the Centre's handling of the grave health crisis and on the issue of supply of medical oxygen and antiviral drug Remdesivir to the worst affected state of Maharashtra. The BJP and the Shiv Sena traded charges of playing politics over the COVID situation even as the Congress Working Committee CWC), the highest decision making body of the party, accused the Centre of "colossal mismanagement" in the war against pandemic and warned of an "unprecedented catastrophe" unless urgent corrective measures are taken.
Maharashtra was at the forefront at the war of words. First, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said he had tried to contact Prime Minister Narendra Modi on phone regarding the supply of medical oxygen for the state, but was told the PM was not available since he was busy campaigning for the West Bengal elections. The state BJP leaders refuted this, asking Thackeray to provide proof. Then, late on Saturday, Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis alleged that the state government was harassing a supplier of Remdesivir from neighbouring union territory Daman because BJP leaders had approached him for supply of the antiviral medication to the state. This came immediately after state minister and NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik claimed that the Centre was pressurising some Remdesivir producers to not sell their stock in Maharashtra.
The country on Saturday recorded a frightening single-day spike in COVID-19 cases with over 2.34 lakh fresh infections, crossing the two lakh-mark for the third straight day, as demands for increased supply of oxygen cylinders, vaccine doses and Remdesivir were raised by 11 states and UTs, including Delhi, where the pandemic situation was described as "worrisome" by the chief minister. As India's COVID-19 tally inched towards 1.50 crore-mark and the death toll climbed above 1.75 lakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union health Harsh Vardhan held meetings to review measures taken by states for prevention, containment and management of the recent surge.
The Congress also accused PM Modi of "shocking callousness" for addressing rallies in poll-bound West Bengal "instead of staying in Delhi" to handle the COVID pandemic situation. Congress' senior spokesperson P. Chidambaram said the prime minister should be at his job, sitting at his desk and coordinating with chief ministers in handling the pandemic. The Maharashtra Congress also accused the Centre of stopping the supply of Remdesivir to the state due to a "lust for power". The accusation was made by the party's state unit spokesperson Sachin Sawant. "Such brutal politics is a disgrace to humanity," he said in a press release, and apparently targeting Prime Minister Modi claimed history would note that "modern day Nero" was busy with electioneering in West Bengal "while the country was burning".
A CWC statement accused the central government of failing on 14 different fronts in handling the pandemic. "We have indicted the government on the way it has handled the pandemic," Congress leader Chidambaram told reporters in Delhi. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra flagged the "deteriorating" COVID-19 situation in Uttar Pradesh and said the state government should try to solve the problems being faced by the people instead of "exacerbating" them and "hiding" statistics.
Coronavirus numbers
According to the Union health ministry, 10 states (Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan) report 79.32 per cent of the new cases.
Sixteen states and UTs (Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal) are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases, it said.
The ministry said five states (Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala) cumulatively account for 65.02 per cent of India's total active cases. Maharashtra alone accounts for 38.09 per cent of the total active caseload of the country.
Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country nearly reached 12 crore on Saturday as part of the world's largest vaccination drive. The number of active coronavirus cases in the country has surpassed the 16-lakh mark, according to the Union health ministry.
-Inputs from PTI
