Responding to allegations by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that the Congress government (which was in power till March 20 this year) did not pay much attention to COVID-19, the state Congress shot 11 questions to the CM and the state BJP chief on responsibility regarding the spread of dreaded infection.
The state Congress has asked Chouhan and state BJP chief Vishnu Dutt Sharma as to who was busy toppling the government in Madhya Pradesh when the affliction had started knocking on the door. “Who was terming Corona as darona when the Kamal Nath government was taking steps and decisions for prevention of the disease,” the first among 11 questions, released by Narendra Saluja, the media coordinator of MP Congress chief Kamal Nath, asked.
Madhya Pradesh reported 1,407 positive cases and 72 deaths till Sunday afternoon, according to a bulletin released by the state health department.
Chouhan had, in a recent interview to a news agency, said that though he did not want to make political comments on the issue, he wanted to point out that the previous (Congress) government did not pay much attention to the COVID-19 situation. The CM also added that the earlier government should have taken precautions to contain the spread of the disease.
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The Congress has retorted asking who has organised the legislature party meet on March 23 even as the pandemic was spreading and who violated guidelines to greet each other and show public solidarity with joined hands. The opposition party has also put question on holding of the oath ceremony of the CM on March 23, just ahead of lockdown, in a big gathering, convening of the Assembly session amidst nationwide lockdown to prove majority. “Who is responsible for such decision and who is responsible for spread of Corona?” the Congress has asked.
The point that the nationwide lockdown was deferred to allow Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take oath as CM has also been made again. The fact that the state has no health, home or other ministers and everything is being handled by a single person (the CM) has also been questioned.
The scarcity of PPE kits, masks, sanitisers and other resources and infection and even death of frontline workers due to this scarcity, death of patients other than COVID-19 due to lack of treatment amenities, and inadequate tests of COVID-19 have also been pointed out by the Congress and reply sought on who is responsible.
Meanwhile, ex-chief minister Kamal Nath has called for providing adequate preventive gear including PPE kits, masks and sanitisers to the frontline workers engaged in COVID-19 prevention work. In a series of tweets, Kamal Nath said that a large number of doctors, field health workers, police personnel, sanitation workers and others are getting infected by the disease and they require adequate preventive gear immediately. The ex-CM has also called for Rs 50 lakh insurance cover for all such frontline workers.
Referring to the death of a police inspector earlier on Sunday, Kamal Nath also suggested that police force from the district where the disease has not spread, should be put on duty at the hotspot zones in the state and the duty should be made rotational so that the police personnel are not overburdened.