Telangana misled Central team, says state BJP chief

The political slugfest between Telangana’s ruling TRS and opposition BJP over the Covid-19 situation in the state continued on Saturday with the BJP’s state unit chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar alleging that the state government misled the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) currently visiting the state.

Unhappy with the Central team for appreciating Telangana government’s efforts to contain Covid-19, Kumar dashed off a letter to the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, alleging that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government misled the team with regard to the facilities offered to Covid-19 patients. He urged the Secretary to send another team for a visit.

Kumar, also an MP from Karimnagar, said that he was surprised that the team expressed satisfaction over the way the state government was implementing the Covid-19 treatment protocol.

The BJP leader alleged that the government failed to go for full-fledged testing. He said it was not even tracking secondary sources and contacts.

Kumar wrote that the BJP received complaints about the inadequate facilities at the Gandhi Hospital, where Covid-19 patients are undergoing treatment. He alleged that the hygiene in the hospital is far below the mandate and the bathrooms are inadequate and not maintained properly.

He claimed that the hospital declared a patient negative first and positive a few days later, resulting in his death.

The BJP leader sent the letter a day after state Health Minister Eatala Rajender slammed him for making baseless allegations and trying to communalise the issue. The minister had trained guns on the BJP, seeking an explanation as to why it permitted the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi which was attended by international delegates.

Rajender had targeted Kumar for not trusting even the Central team sent by his own party government.

Meanwhile, IMCT continued its visit to Hyderabad for the eighth day on Saturday to assess the Covid-19 situation and make necessary suggestions to the state.

The five-member team visited the ESI Hospital to see the preparedness to deal with the Covid-19 cases.

It later visited the Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouse in the city to know about the rice stock position.