Political one-upmanship begins over coronavirus

The one-upmanship of political parties began on Day 7 of the nationwide lockdown with each patting its back and finding fault with the other.

Each party claimed that it is doing its best for the people facing hardships during the lockdown.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadera asserted that party-ruled states — Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — are geared up to face the crisis by taking over several private hospitals to run isolation wards. The Congress-ruled state governments is also ensuring that essential items reach every house, the grand old party claimed.

Congress has been repeatedly raising the questions about the handling of the COVID-19 issue and in particular the problem faced by migrant workers due to the announcement of lockdown.

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The party also took to social media to blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ignoring early warnings by WHO about coronavirus outbreak. "We had enough time to prepare but the Centre turned a blind eye," the tweet accused PM of apathy with #PMDoesNOTCare.

With the same hashtag, it also tweeted “Dear PM, We've been listening to your Mann Ki Baat for long enough but are you listening to the migrant labourers, doctors, expert voices & opposition? “

Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

On the other hand, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra trained guns on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that while it is time for non-partisan participation in relief work across the country, a party MLA was “threatened and detained while he was distributing rice to the poor in his constituency following all social distancing norms."

BJP’s national general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh charged that the local administrations in Kolkata, Puducherry — which is ruled by Opposition parties Trinamool Congress and Congress respectively — were blocking BJP leaders and workers from distributing relief materials to poor. “Petty politics at times of crisis. Strongly condemn,” he said.

After Sunday’s large movement of migrants out of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi party faced accusation of triggering exodus of migrant workers from Delhi.

Congress communication department chief Randeep Surjewala sought to put BJP-ruled governments of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and AAP’s Delhi government in dock over migration woes. The Manohar Lal Khattar government of Haryana was particularly in the line of fire by Surjewala, who alleged that it has totally failed to control the prices of essential commodities and ensure their delivery.