Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies — the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress — are busy bickering among themselves instead of combating the COVID-19 pandemic in Maharashtra. The BJP leader was on a tour of Jalgaon district in north Maharashtra to review the COVID-19 situation.
Mr. Fadnavis said, “This is not the time for petty politics. Instead of focusing on ridding the State of the scourge of the novel coronavirus, these three parties are fighting among themselves. All this at a time when people are not getting adequate beds and testing is not up to the mark.”
On a critical editorial in the Saamana, he said: “The Saamana is no longer the mouthpiece of the Sena that it was during the times of its founder Balasaheb Thackeray. It has mutated into the mouthpiece of the Congress and the NCP, whose politics the Saamana had once vigorously opposed.”
Mr. Fadnavis said the BJP would not react to barbs hurled at him or the party in the Saamana. “Moreover, how many people read it? But I suppose it provides grist for journalists who keep dissecting the meaning of its editorials all day long. All this is irrelevant and utterly unimportant for us at a time when the country and the State are reeling under COVID-19,” he said.
Mr. Fadnavis denied there was any politics behind his tour. “We are only interested in hearing the problems of the public and we will go to them, regardless of what the Congress or the NCP thinks. Their leaders are sitting at home… they may not be interested in the welfare of the people, but we are,” he said.
‘Alarming situation’
Mr. Fadnavis said the COVID-19 situation in Jalgaon was alarming and urged authorities to take firm steps to curb the surge in cases and deaths. The district has been witnessing an average of 150 cases a day for the past fortnight. Jalgaon’s tally has crossed 5,000 mark, with over 1,800 active cases. Its death toll has risen to 312, overtaking Nashik district’s total.
“The plight of non-COVID-19 patients is equally dire. It is imperative to increase testing in Jalgaon, which is way below the stipulated guidelines of the Indian Council for Medical Research. The district collector has told me that antigen kits are being distributed to facilitate rapid testing. We will be monitoring the situation closely,” he said.
‘Delay in test reports’
Mr. Fadnavis said test reports often arrived four days after the swab was taken, leading to deaths. “This results in symptomatic patients moving to the critical stage. Authorities must ensure that reports from private labs come within 24 hours. The medical infrastructure is also woefully inadequate. The Jalgaon Municipal Corporation has only one ambulance. We have urged the civic body to procure more ambulances. Patients cannot be kept waiting for eight hours,” he said.
Mr. Fadnavis asked the administration to streamline the provision of meals to patients, especially those with co-morbidities. “Non-COVID-19 patients are facing tremendous problems. As the civil hospital is packed to capacity for treatment of COVID-19 cases, the others are being sent to Godavari Hospital. I have received dozens of complaints of the latter overcharging patients. Ordinary people are being denied services. Even diagnostic centres are shut and the death rates of non-COVID-19 patients have started increasing,” Mr. Fadnavis said.