Coronavirus pandemic | MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan slams Kamal Nath for 'bad politics' in time of crisis

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on April 13 slammed former CM Kamal Nath, stating that if Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had warned about the coronavirus outbreak on February 12, Nath should have taken steps accordingly.

"I'd never imagined there'll be such bad politics at the time of this crisis. Kamal Nath had said Rahul Gandhi warned about this (coronavirus) on February 12. Who was CM then? What did he do till March 23? Can someone be this selfish to stop working as they won't be the CM anymore?" Chouhan said, according to news agency ANI.

Gandhi had, in a tweet on February 12, said the virus is "an extremely serious threat to our people and our economy".

Follow our LIVE blog here.

"My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously. Timely action is critical," Gandhi had said. 

Earlier, on April 12, Nath had come down heavily on the BJP government at the Centre, accusing it of delaying action to combat the coronavirus pandemic to topple the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.

He alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was responsible for the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak in the country as it allowed Parliament to function in order to ensure that the Madhya Pradesh Assembly was also in session and his government was toppled.

Also Read: Coronavirus pandemic | Latest updates on COVID-19 crisis around the world

"It is obvious, Parliament was run only to ensure that the Madhya Pradesh Assembly could run and the Congress government be toppled," Nath told reporters at a press conference addressed through video-conferencing.

Detailing the chronology of events, he said while there were only three COVID-19 cases in February, the government delayed the lockdown till March 24 and by then, the number of coronavirus cases had increased by 175 times to 536.