Gujarat: BJP MLA draws flak for injecting remdesivir in Covid patient’s drip

SURAT: BJP legislator from Kamrej V D Zalavadiya has landed in yet another controversy after a video surfaced on Sunday showing him doubling up as a health worker at a Covid-19 care centre in Sarthana area which he is operating along with his supporters.
Zalavadiya faced a barrage of criticism over social media and political circles after a video went viral on Sunday showing him filling a syringe with remdesivir injection before transferring it to a drip bottle, to be administered to a Covid-19 patient. Zalavadiya did it allegedly on May 17 in presence of a nurse and doctor, who are heard commenting and laughing in the video.

Criticizing Zalavadiya for his act of carelessness, Congress spokesperson Jayrajsinh Parmar said, “State health minister Nitin Patel should get inspiration from Zalavadiya, who has studied up to Class V, and open a centre to train BJP MLAs and workers in administering injections and dressing wounds. This would also address the issue of acute shortage of medical staff in state hospitals.”
Zalavadiya, however, said that he did not administer the dose to any patient and apologized for his act. “If I did anything wrong, I apologize but I was rendering service to the people with intention of treatment,” he told reporters.
Talking to TOI, he said, “I was not doing anything wrong and I did not want to create any controversy. I was merely serving the patient. I have been running the Covid centre to serve people for 40 days now and treated more than 200 patients and sent them home. I did not give the injection directly to the patient. I injected the medicine in the drip bottle.”
He refused to take more questions and disconnected the call.
Zalavadiya and controversy aren’t strangers with the MLA landing in many a soup. In February 2018, his son Sharad was booked twice and again in August 2019 for allegedly issuing threats to separate individuals over political and business disputes. In November 2020, another video of Zalavadiya went viral in which he was seen flouting Covid-19 guidelines while celebrating his granddaughter’s birthday.