CM Arvind Kejriwal has announced that Delhi’s borders will be sealed for a week and sought suggestions from people on allowing outsiders to get treatment at city hospitals. (File pic)

Coronavirus in Delhi: Politics has its own place even as the country fights an unprecedented crisis in the form of Coronavirus. The Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party are engaged in a fierce battle over Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appearing reluctant in allowing patients to come to Delhi from other states to avail medical services in the national capital.

BJP MP Gautam Gambhir said that the Kejriwal government has failed to contain the spread of virus and it was taking such decisions to hide its failure.

“Just to hide your FAILURE, you want to punish innocent people merely because they live across the border? Those are INDIANS just like you and me! You promised of being ready for 30,000 patients in April, remember? Why ask such leading questions now Mr. Tughlaq?” he tweeted.

His reaction comes after CM Kejriwal in a press conference praised the city’s health infrastructure and claimed that the AAP government has done “phenomenal work” in the health sector in the last five years. He said that Delhi has the best healthcare facilities in comparison to other states and it offers free medical treatment in public hospitals. He said opening up the borders will allow people from across the country to come to Delhi to get treatment and the 9,000 beds available will be occupied within two days.

“With borders opening up but Corona cases rising, can Delhi open its hospitals for treatment of people from across the country? Will it put pressure on capacity to handle Corona? Should Delhi’s hospitals be reserved for Delhi residents? So, what should we do? Should we reopen borders?” he asked the public.

He said there are 2300 COVID-19 patients admitted at hospitals and there are arrangements of 6,600 beds. The number will reach 9,000 by June 5.

Responding to Gambhir, AAP’s Sanjay Singh asked where the people of Delhi will go for treatment if outsiders are permitted to occupy the hospitals.

“I am watching on TV channels, the BJP is saying that Delhi’s hospitals should be opened for the people of the whole country. BJP should answer that if the people of Delhi are sick, where will they go?” he asked.

“When the BJP governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh sealed the borders, BJP members were silent. But today when the Delhi government sealed the borders, all the BJP members are shouting,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

The Chief Minister also announced that Delhi’s borders will be sealed for a week and sought suggestions from people by Friday to reopen the same.

Delhi recorded its highest single-day spike of 1,295 fresh Coronavirus cases on Sunday taking the tally to 19,844. A total of 473 have lost their lives.