Mamata realised 'solo show' not working, formed panel to deal with COVID-19 crisis: WB BJP

Taking a dig at West Bengal

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday said she formed a four-member panel to combat the COVID-19 menace, after realising that her "solo show" wasn't working and the "situation was getting out of hand".

Banerjee had on Monday announced the formation of a cabinet committee on COVID-19 management, chaired by Finance and Industries Minister Amit Mitra. Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim and Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhatttacharya are the three other members of the panel.

"Why didn't she form a panel before? What took her so long? Why did she keep these ministers idle all this while, and made it a solo show! This is her habit... to form such committees when she loses control of the situation, when she senses that she is going to lose the match," Ghosh told reporters here.

 

The BJP leader also alleged the CM was indulging in politics at this hour of crisis by suppressing the actual COVID-19 death figure.

"Dead bodies are being secretly burnt by police at night in different areas over the last several days. This has also triggered protests by local people who are understandably scared," he said.

Ghosh claimed that the government's decision to dole out 5 kg rice and 5 kg pulses in a month for every family was inadequate. "How can a poor family sustain on such meagre quantity of ration which will barely last for a week. This is leading to disturbances and unrest. The ration amount should be hiked to 20 kg per month," he said.

Iterating his earlier charge that the chief minister was herself flouting lockdown rules by moving around in a car, the BJP MP said, "She is more keen on using her visits to gain publicity and score political brownies."

The state BJP president stated that "Banerjee has failed to enforce the lockdown norms" in different parts of the state, thus increasing the risk of community transmission.

Ghosh also said the figures shared by the government of the number of personal protective equipment available with state health department were "confusing and incoherent".