Miffed by a letter written by former chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to Congress president Sonia Gandhi advising her party not to indulge in politics over vaccination but to play the role of a constructive Opposition, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Saturday dared Fadnavis to show courage and write a similar letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Covid-19 situation in the country

Hours after Fadnavis shot off a four-page letter to the Congress president, Patole charged that by writing a letter to Sonia Gandhi, the BJP leader was trying to push under the carpet the “sins” of  Prime Minister Narendra Modi of converting the country into a cremation ground.  

Charging that the Modi government had miserably failed in handling the Covid-19 crisis in the country, Patole said: “Rahul Gandhi had warned way back on February 12, 2020 of a Corona Tsunami, but BJP leaders like Modi and Fadnavis did not take him seriously. The result is that a staggering 4 lakh infections and more than 4,000 deaths are being reported every day in the country. The Modi government’s arrogance and mismanagement of affairs is responsible for the curry situation in the country”

“By writing a letter to Sonia Gandhi, Modi is trying to push under the carpet the “sins” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of converting the country into a cremation ground.... Instead of writing a letter to the Congress president, Fadnavis should be asking his party’s chief minister as to how `Navami Gange’ has turned into `Shavami Gange”,” Patole said.   

Dubbing Modi as a “liar” for claims that the Centre had provided more than stocks of Remdesivir and Oxygen to states, Patole said that the Supreme Court hadf called the BJP’s bluff by passing strictures over its false claiming in handling the Covid-19. “The Centre had claimed that utilising money from the PM’s Care fund, it would set up Oxygen plants. But not even one plant has been set up in Maharashtra. In fact, Maharashtra which needs 1750 metric tonnes of medical oxygen, the state itself produces 1,200 metric tonnes of Oxygen. Such is the sad state of affairs that the Centre is not able to provide the remaining 550 MT ofg Oxygen to the state,” the state Congress chief said.

Charing that the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh were hiding information relating to Covid-19 infections and deaths, Patole asked: “Please let us as to how many Covid-19 tests in these BJP-ruled states. How many patients are getting Oxygen? How many deaths have taken place in the BJP-ruled states?. Fadnavis should write a letter to the BJP president and statistics in this regard”.    

Patole said that there have been 1,23,871 deaths in just 71 days in Gujarat, the government there pegged the number of deaths at 4,218, and blamed the ego and greed of the BJP government at the Centre for the mess. “The BJP-ruled state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar are using JCBs to remove bodies of the people who died of Covid. And the bodies are floating in river Ganga,” he said.

Patole said that while the Centre had claimed it had made an allocation of `35,000 crore, the private vaccine manufacturers were selling vaccines to the centre at `150 per vaccine, `400 per vaccine to the state government and Rs 600 to individuals.

Earlier in the day, Fadnavis claimed that contrary to the claims made by the Maharashtra government, the Centre had given 1.10 crore vaccines, 8 lakh Remdesivir and 1740 tonnes of medical oxygen. “It is another that the Maharashtra government is criticisingPrime Minister Modi  to cover its own failure,” he said.

“You will not achieve anything by creating a negative atmosphere in the country.  The entire world is praising Prime Minister Modi for the  tremendous work done by him during the Covid-19 period. That’s the reason that the entire world stands by India in its fight against Coronavirus. I am surprised that the Congress chief ministers who opposed the Indian vaccines are now indulging in vaccine politics,” Fadnavis said.

“It is another matter that those who were opposing the Indian vaccines are now happy with its efficacy.  When the country is passing through the Covid-19 crisis, it is essential that the Opposition not indulge in vaccine politics but play the role of the constructive Opposition,” Fadnavis stated in his letter to Sonia Gandhi.