Mumbai : Maharashtra’s Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday targeted the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for its “ineffective handling” of the Covid-19 crisis in the state.
Fadnavis led a delegation of BJP leaders to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and submitted a memorandum listing various demands. The party has also warned of a statewide agitation against the MVA government.
The delegation – which included legislators Ashish Shelar, and Atul Bhatkhalkar, parliamentarians Gopal Shetty and Manoj Kotak, and ex-legislator Vinod Tawde – met the Governor at Raj Bhavan.
“The state government has proved itself completely wanting at handling the Coronavirus crisis which has led to a total complete collapse of the health system,” Fadnavis alleged.
Claiming that there is a serious question mark whether the administration even exists in the state, he said that the effective steps that were required to be taken to deal with the crisis do not appear to have been taken on time.
“This is the reason Maharashtra today has the highest number of Corona patients and deaths in the country. And this number is increasing everyday, especially in places like Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Malegaon,” said Fadnavis.
Besides, he said many people do not get treatment on time and there is no information available on which hospital has how many beds left, creating a huge crisis.
On the farmers issue, he said that their condition is worsening day by day, and there is no mechanism set up for procurement of agricultural commodities which are lying at their homes.
“The Central government has announced an aid package. Other states have followed suit. But why has an advanced state like Maharashtra not yet announced its own package? No matter how big a package is given by the Centre, the state government continues pointing a finger at it,” Fadnavis said.
Taking a swipe at Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, the BJP leader said that he writes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi many times, so occasionally he should also write to Maharashtra Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray).
Fadnavis said migrants have suffered a lot, the common man does not get rations, alleged at “scams” since even those who have ration cards are not getting foodgrains, patients do not get ambulances on time, etc.
He also said though the opposition is willing to help the government, the government is not responding.
“When others make any suggestions, it is accepted, but when we suggest anything we are blamed for playing politics,” Fadnavis rued.