With the number of COVID-19 positive cases spiralling in Madhya Pradesh, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the BJP should be held accountable for pushing the State into a health crisis as the party was busy ousting the Kamal Nath-led previous government.
As per the Union Health Ministry website, Madhya Pradesh, with nearly 1,700 persons testing positive for COVID-19, is among the top five worst-hit States. The State has reported 83 deaths so far, making it the third State after Maharashtra and Gujarat in fatalities.
“Responsibility for these shocking numbers in Indore, now Bhopal and in the entire Madhya Pradesh falls solely on the BJP whose top leadership was singularly focused on toppling an opposition govt, instead of being concerned about the grave health crisis in the State,” Mr. Yechury said in a series of tweets.
He added that the BJP’s lust for power jeopardised all States doing their best to contain COVID-19. “This is nothing but criminality,” he said.
Ethanol row
Meanwhile, the CPI (M) has condemned the Union government’s decision to use surplus rice stocks to manufacture ethanol for use as bio-fuel and sanitisers. It has demanded that the decision be immediately reversed.
Also read: Coronavirus India lockdown Day 31 updates
“This decision comes as a slap on the face of the millions of migrant workers, unorganised sector workers and the other poor who are suffering untold hardships, including acute shortage of food bordering on starvation because of the lockdown,” the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said in a statement here.
The party also questioned the government’s rationale behind using rice to manufacture ethanol to blend with petrol at a time when the international oil prices were at a historical low and the demand had further dipped because petrol cars were off the roads during the lockdown. “People’s lives, millions who are struggling to survive facing hunger, lack of shelter and deprivation, cannot be bartered for corporate profits. This is criminal,” the statement said.
