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Harsimrat making political hay from Covid crisis: CM
Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday accused SAD MP and former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal of insensitive attempts to make political hay from the current Covid crisis in the state
Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday accused SAD MP and former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal of insensitive attempts to make political hay from the current Covid crisis in the state.
In a statement, Amarinder said the Akali leader was in the habit of lying, even on the most sensitive of subjects, especially at a time when the unrelenting efforts of the state’s healthcare workers were showing some positive results. “Her comments on the Covid situation have exposed a new low,” said the chief minister, slamming the former Union minister for playing dirty political games on the issue of the pandemic. Harsimrat had on Monday slammed the state government over “shortcomings” in Covid management.
Responding to her remarks, the CM said instead of choosing to support his government’s concerted efforts, which had led to some bright spots on the Covid front, Harsimrat, along with the rest of her party colleagues, including SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, had been continuously indulging in cheap criticism of his government on the management of the pandemic.
Pointing out that the state’s medical community was working day and night to fight the pandemic, Amarinder said the untiring efforts of the medical fraternity had led to some improvement in the situation over the past few days, with Punjab no longer among the top five states contributing the maximum case load.
While Punjab was still a long way from victory in the battle against Covid, this was a matter of optimism, and a cause for appreciation of all the frontline workers who were working hard for the past over one year, he noted. “Does she not realise how such statements are de-motivating for the frontline workers, and all the people of Punjab? Or does she simply not care, because her entire focus is on finding excuses to pull down my government?” he asked.
The CM also lashed out at Harsimrat for finding fault with the ban on political gatherings in the state. While the Congress had voluntarily decided to put off all rallies and gatherings, the Akalis, led by Sukhbir himself, were spreading mayhem by proudly holding such rallies without masks and social distancing of any kind, he alleged.
