Madhya Pradesh: Govt team vaccinates Ujjain BJP MP's staff, kin at his home; probe ordered

UJJAIN: A controversy has erupted after a government medical team allegedly administered COVID- 19 vaccines to Ujjain BJP MP Anil Firojiya's staffers, family members and supporters at his residence here, prompting the district authorities to order an inquiry into the incident.

While officials made it clear that there was no provision to send a government team to anybody's home for vaccination, the Congress slammed Firojiya and the machinery for the "shameless act", saying that this has happened when other citizens have to face difficulty in getting vaccines.

The incident came to light after BJP worker Kapil Katariya posted a picture of himself getting a jab on Friday and thanked Firojiya for it.

A number of social media users shared the pictures of the vaccination exercise carried out at the politician's residence, and criticised the move.

However, Firojiya defended himself saying that one of his party workers had called the medical team to his place without his knowledge.

"I was not at home. My mother is very old and she has also suffered injuries in her leg. So one of our workers, Kapil Katariya, called the team. Had I known it before, I would never have allowed this to happen," Firojiya told PTI.

He said he had himself got vaccinated at a hospital.

"Rules are the same for everybody," he said.

Ujjain district collector Ashish Singh said he has ordered an inquiry into the matter after getting the information.

"I asked the officials to provide information about who gave the permission to send the team there. Strict action will be taken against the guilty. There is no provision to send a team to anybody's home," he said.

Talking to PTI, Congress MLA Mahesh Parmar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted a picture of him getting a jab in a hospital, but the Ujjain MP does not seem to be following his leader.

"The Ujjain MP considers himself a VVIP and calls the medical team to his home. This is Centre's failure. This is a shameless act," he said.

Parmar, who represents Tarana Assembly constituency, said that the incident has taken place when people are facing a crisis of medicines, oxygen and unavailability of doctors in the midst of pandemic.

"Despite this scenario, a medical team is being sent to the residence of the local Lok Sabha member," he alleged.

He said Firojiya should be removed from the post and the officials responsible for it should be sacked.