An ugly spat broke out betweenthe TMC and the BJP over COVID-19 death toll in West Bengal, with saffron camp's IT Cell chief Amit Malviya accusing the government of "hiding" cases and the ruling party hitting back, saying "a person with PHD on fake news should not tweet about data authenticity".According to official sources, Bengal has reported 80 COVID-19 cases so far, and three deaths. Unofficial sources, however, claimed that the toll has touched 10.Senior BJP leader and party's IT cell head Amit Malviya, in a series of tweets, on Monday alleged that the Mamata Banerjee-led government was hiding facts and figures, in connection with the COVID-19 cases."What is Mamata Banerjee hiding? No medical bulletin from the Bengal government on 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Apr. Curiously number of Covid related deaths missing in the bulletin released on 4th...Read this along with Mamata admin's diktat on a Committee deciding reason for Covid deaths, Malviya tweeted."Hospital administrations across Bengal are under pressure from Mamata Banerjee, who is also the Health Minister, to underplay COVID related cases by discouraging tests and thwarting doctors from writing Corona as a reason for deaths, despite +ive reports, in Death Certificates," he wrote on his Twitter handle.Hitting back, senior TMC leader and Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said Malviya should be the last person to talk about data authenticity."When the CEO of BJP's IT Cell, who also has a PhD in spreading #FakeNews, starts tweeting about the authenticity of data, it's like COVID-19 talking about social distancing and accusing you of breaking the lockdown," Dastidar, a doctor herself, said in a tweet.Another senior TMC leader, who preferred not to be named, suggested that Malviya should refrain from politicising matters at this time of crisis."This is a crisis, which we are all fighting together. This is not the time for politics. Before lecturing us, he should speak about the health infrastructure of the Union government," the ruling party leader said.Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha had on Saturday clarified that the state government was not hiding or suppressing any fact or figure in connection with the disease, amid contradictions over the COVID-19 death toll in the state.A state government-appointed expert committee had last week said at a press conference that seven people died due to coronavirus infection in the state.Hours later, however, Sinha claimed only three people had died of the disease and a probe was on to ascertain if the four other deaths could be attributed to COVID 19.
