Bed-blocking 'scam' a drama to cover up Chamarajanagar tragedy: HDK

Former chief minister and JD(S) legislature party leader H D Kumaraswamy said on Wednesday that the BJP leaders were trying to cover up the Chamarajanagar oxygen deaths by exposing the bed-blocking scam in Bengaluru.

Kumaraswamy told reporters that the expose was a drama by the BJP leaders to divert the people’s attention, he said.

“An MP and an MLA are claiming to have exposed a huge racket. When innocent people are dying due to the pandemic, they are trying to blame a particular community. They are trying to do politics in the name of religion,” Kumaraswamy said.

Read | Congress leaders Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar visit Chamarajanagar hospital

“The government has erred in the Chamarajanagar incident. They are trying to cover up the mistake. By saying that 4,000 beds were illegally blocked, they are trying to create fear among the people. There is a problem to get beds in Bengaluru even today. What did you gain by conducting a raid?” he said.

“A CCB probe has been ordered into the incident. But people have lost trust in the investigation agency. What happened to the drugs scandal? Except the arrest of two women, there was no progress. The sleaze CD case has also been closed,” the former chief minister said.

“It is said that the woman arrested in connection with the war room case was running an NGO. Who gave her the responsibility of managing the war room. Around 5 to 6% of the staff may have been involved in making money, because you would have taken lakhs of rupees to give them the jobs. The officials should not blame the employees,” he said.

Criticising the Congress leaders, Kumaraswamy said distributing 10 kg rice is not important. But protecting lives is more important.

“If the Congress had constructed a 30-bed hospital in every gram panchayat limits during their 70 years of power, such a situation would not have arisen,” he said.