E-Paper
Congress will be responsible for Covid spike: Karnataka minister
Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar on Thursday said the Congress, which has been holding mass protests, will be held responsible if there is a spike in Covid cases in the state.
Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar on Thursday said the Congress, which has been holding mass protests, will be held responsible if there is a spike in Covid cases in the state.
The minister also warned action against Congress leaders for organising protests across the state in connection with Rahul Gandhi’s questioning by the ED in the National Herald case.
“The Congress should take moral responsibility in that case. I will discuss with chief minister Basavaraj Bommai to book Congress leaders for these protests,” Sudhakar said. “If they want to protest, let them stage it in Freedom Park. This is not correct to gather people and stage protests on roads. Today (Thursday) they are staging Raj Bhavan chalo protest that is uncalled for,” he said.
He went to add that a case will be lodged for Covid protocol violation after discussion with Bommai.
The minister said as per the Kanpur IIT Technical Recommendation Committee, the state is expected to witness a spike in the Covid cases from the third week of June and the spike will go on till October. “We are observing the situation closely and making preparations accordingly. The Covid variant which is surfacing these days is not fierce and there is no need for the people to panic,” he said.
Congress state president DK Shivakumar, reacting to Sudhakar’s statement, said: “Let him first lodge cases against BJP leaders who had violated Covid protocol. Why have they not lodged a case on BJP programmes? The constitution has given us the right to protest. This country attained Independence through protests. False cases are lodged against Rahul Gandhi. The BJP is trying to threaten us and is carrying out politics of vengeance.”
Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Siddaramaiah said cases should be filed against BJP workers. “Coronavirus was present when they (BJP workers) protested in front of my house. No case was registered against them. Wasn’t that a violation of the court order? Should we keep quiet when the constitutional rights of the people are being violated? They (BJP) are doing all this to scare us and the Congress will not be affected by this,” he said.
In March, an FIR has been registered against 38 people under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act, for holding a march in violation of Covid-19 rules. The FIR named Congress leaders Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, among several others. These cases were filed during a march against the government’s stand on the Mekedatu project.
Similarly, in January, during the first phase of the Mekedatu project protests by the Congress, police had filed two cases against Shivakumar and 40 others in Ramanagara for allegedly violating Covid-19 norms.
