Agra mayor embarrasses BJP, says Taj city could be India's 'Wuhan'

The Uttar Pradesh government's much touted claim about effective measures to fight COVID-19 lay in tatters after senior BJP leader and Agra Mayor Naveen Jain lambasted the administration for its 'failure' to check the rapid increase in cases of coronavirus infection and warned that the ‘Taj city’ could be India's 'Wuhan' if remedial measures were not initiated.

In a hard-hitting letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Mayor said that the residents of the city were now 'cursing' the BJP leaders and the image of the UP government had taken a severe beating.

''Testing of people at quarantine centres does not take place for days together. Patients suffering from renal problems and other diseases have been dying as there is no arrangement for their treatment. The situation is very serious,'' Jain said.

He said that senior district officials did not venture out of their homes. ''They only come out for a few minutes to get themselves photographed,'' he added.

Of the total 1850 COVID-19 patients in UP, Agra alone accounts for around 20 per cent of cases.

The letter from Jain has come at a time when the UP government had touted the Agra model to counter Rajasthan's ‘Bhilwara Model’ and Kerala's ‘Kasargod Model’.

An embarrassed senior UP minister said that the government had taken note of the letter and would take appropriate measures.

Barely a couple of days back, a BJP lawmaker had made fun of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to the people to ''clap and bang utensils'' to show their support for the health workers fighting the COVID-19.

''They (govt) want you to clap, bang utensils, blow conch shells and you (public) keep on doing that. You will not think about anything else. Your employment has been snatched,'' saffron party MLA Rakesh Rathore said.