State is not handling crisis well: Maharashtra BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday led a delegation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to submit a complaint against the state government’s handling of the

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday led a delegation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to submit a complaint against the state government’s handling of the Covid-19 outbreak.

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The delegation, led by Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, has demanded that the state should announce a fiscal package for daily wage earners as they have been worst hit by the pandemic.

“Every day, the situation is getting worse in the state. Maharashtra has the maximum number of cases as well as fatalities due to the novel coronavirus disease. It’s an alarming situation. In a city like Mumbai, patients can’t get hospital beds or ambulance services. Some have died while trying to shift from one hospital to another,’’ said Fadnavis, after meeting the Governor.

He added, “Farmers are in a dire situation with their rabi harvest remaining unsold. Migrant labourers are walking back home while risking their lives. We have made several representations to the government about these issues.”

Fadnavis also said that instead of writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi all the time, NCP chief Sharad Pawar should sometimes write to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to help the common people.

The move is part of BJP’s ‘Maharashtra Bachao’ (Save Maharashtra) protest, launched on Tuesday, to highlight the state’s ‘ineffectual tackling’ of Covid-19. As part of the protest, party leaders will be sending similar representations at the district level to collectors. On Wednesday, BJP will hold a demonstration, where party workers will hold protest slates against the government, outside their houses.

However, Congress alleged that the BJP was trying to play politics amidst a pandemic.

Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, “This is not ‘Maharashtra Bachao’ but a ‘Maharashtra Virodhi’ (Anti Maharashtra) protest by the opposition party. Fadnavis said that he did not see any efforts taken by the state to send migrant labourers home. For his information, we have sent 2.3 lakh labourers in 19,353 state undertaking buses.’’

He also alleged that Maharashtra BJP’s official Twitter account had released a one-month-old video about a protest in a local Shushrusha hospital to create animosity and anger amongst the public.

“The home minister should take action against them for releasing old videos with an agenda to create trouble,’’ Sawant added.

Fadnavis said, “I do not know about the video and if this is indeed an old video released mischievously, we will take action against the concerned member. We don’t want to do politics amidst a pandemic.’’