Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a broadside at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, said he was making arrangements for oxygen in Delhi when the latter was busy participating in rallies in poll-bound States.
His statement came in the backdrop of a report submitted by a Supreme Court-appointed oxygen audit team, which said the Delhi government “exaggerated” its oxygen requirement by four times during the peak days of the second COVID-19 wave.
BJP leaders had been attacking the Kejriwal-led government over the report since Friday morning.
“My crime – I fought for the lives of 2 crore people of Delhi. When you were doing election rallies, I was awake all night making arrangements for oxygen. I fought, pleaded with people to get oxygen. People have lost their loved ones due to the lack of oxygen. You shouldn’t call them liars, they will feel really bad about it,” Mr. Kejriwal said in a tweet.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was appointed as the point man for COVID-19 management in the Capital on April 16, denied the existence of the report altogether. “From today [Friday] morning BJP is abusing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the basis of a so-called report on oxygen. No such report exists. BJP is lying,” he said in a video statement. “The Supreme Court had formed an oxygen audit committee. We talked to many members of this committee. They all said that they have not signed any such report, they said they have not approved any report. Then which report is this?”
Sisodia’s challenge
Mr. Sisodia said BJP leaders are alleging that the “so-called report” states that the oxygen demand in Delhi was inflated by four times.
“I challenge you, get the report which has been approved and signed by members of the oxygen audit committee. BJP leaders should be ashamed. They sit in BJP headquarters and make a report and call it the oxygen committee’s report,” he said.
The report, authored by a team led by AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria, was annexed to an affidavit filed by the Health Ministry in the Supreme Court.