BJP president JP Nadda pans Telangana govt on Covid handling and low testing in state

HYDERABAD: On a day when a central team was taking stock of the Covid-19 situation in Telangana by visiting hospitals and testing centres, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda came down heavily on the state government for failing to handle the pandemic well. However, the ruling Telangana Rashtra (TRS) Samithi refuted the charges.
Addressing a virtual conference of state Bharatiya Janata Party workers on the occasion of ground-breaking ceremony of party offices in nine districts in Telangana on Monday, he wondered: “What did Telangana government do during the Covid-19 crisis? Despite the high court pulling up the regime, it continues to be in a sleeping mode.” Criticising the government for not doing enough to contain the virus, Nadda said Telangana continues fare poorly even in the testing.

“We know there is a shortage of oxygen cylinders here. People have died because of that,” he said and added the approach of the government towards Covid-19 management was condemnable.
Reacting sharply, Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA, government whip Gongidi Sunitha Reddy said the state government had taken all measures needed to combat Covid-19. Stating that there was no truth in the allegations made by Nadda, she told TOI: “Even PHCs, community health centres and district headquarters hospitals are conducting the Covid-19 tests for the benefit of people.”
Meanwhile, assailing TRS government for refusing to be part of the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme, Nadda said: “Private hospitals in Telangana are charging Rs 1 lakh a day from Covid-19 patients. Ayushman Bharat could have given relief to such people had the state opted for the scheme.”
At least one crore population in the state could have benefited out of it.
The Bharatiya Janata Party chief alleged that the TRS government was indulging in lsarge-scale corruption in Kaleshwaram irrigation project.
“The cost of the project was pegged at Rs 45,000 crore. Till now, more than Rs 1 lakh crore was spent. Is it not corruption?” he sought to know. “Even after being in power for six years, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi regime did not provide one lakh jobs to unemployed youth as it had promised,” he charged.