Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Amid reports of an alarming number of deaths in government hospitals in Maharashtra, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi on Friday launched a scathing attack on the Eknath Shinde-led BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government, while Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray sought an impartial CBI probe.
“We demand a CBI probe…an impartial CBI investigation,” Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai.
Thackeray said that the health machinery in the state, which was beefed up during the Covid-19 pandemic, seemed to be crumbling. “We had the same doctors, nurses, ward boys, staff, infrastructure and other things…What has gone wrong?…it is simply the fault of the government,” he said.
He also slammed Shinde and the two Deputy Chief Ministers—Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar—for not going to the hospitals and inquiring what went wrong.
“They have money to take MLAs to Gujarat, Guwahati, Goa to bring down the MVA government, release advertisements, go on foreign jaunts and fight among themselves for portfolios and guardianship of districts,” he said.
Shinde, however, reacted sharply and said: “Those who did Facebook Live while wearing masks during the pandemic have no right to question.”
Shinde said that his ministers and officials have visited the hospitals.
He also accused Thackeray of reacting as there is a probe into the Covid scam in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation for the families of those had who lost their lives at these hospitals, which saw unusually high deaths.
In his comments, Patole said: “This is an incompetent and bankrupt government. The money that belongs to the people and is collected as taxes is being squandered by the government. This government has stained its hands with the blood of the common man. The insensitive, corrupt government is looting the farmers, youth and the poor."