Gujarat Deputy CM asks Rajasthan CM to take care of Congress MLAs in Jaipur

Gujarat's Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel on Tuesday late in the evening shot a letter to the chief minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot asking him to "ensure proper medical care" to all Gujarat Congress MLAs who are staying put in Jaipur from the threat of coronavirus.

Earlier in the day, Patel and several other BJP leaders took digs at the Congress party for sending all its MLAs to a resort in Jaipur ahead of the Rajya Sabha election.

In the letter addressed to Gehlot, Patel said, "As you may be aware approximately 65 MLAs of Gujarat have gone to Rajasthan and are presently located in a resort called Hotel Shiv Vilas, Jaipur. In the wake of the corona outbreak, this is to request you to please ensure that they are provided with proper medical check-ups and given all the medical facilities both for preventive and curative treatment of corona."

When contacted, Patel confirmed that he wrote the letter and added, "This letter is only to bring the safety of Gujarat MLAs to the notice of Rajasthan government. There is nothing political about it. We are taking care of everyone in Gujarat and that's our responsibility to take care of our own legislatures and that's why I wrote the letter."

"Dear Nitin Patelji, Dy CM Gujarat, our Congress MLAs have strong immunity as they have been fighting with the tyrannical rule of BJP in Gujarat, rest assured the Rajasthan government is taking good care of the corona epidemic. Thank you for your concern," tweeted Rajasthan CM Gehlot.

Earlier in the day, several BJP leaders mocked at Congress MLAs who are camping in Jaipur since Monday, where they went after five of their MLAs resigned ahead of Rajya Sabha polls for four seats on March 26. The opposition party fears that there will more attempts for horse-trading as the day of the election approaches.

Patel, while taking a dig at the Congress, said in the ongoing Assembly sessions had said that "if anything happens to Congress MLAs, the Rajasthan government will be responsible." Rajasthan has reported four positive cases of the deadly virus while Gujarat doesn't have a single confirmed case as yet. Patel, however, denied that Congress MLAs will have to undergo medical check-up once they are back.