Panned over COVID-19 handling, Mamata govt shifts strategy Pradipta Tapadar

Facing vehement criticism over

its alleged inept handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Bengal's TMC government has reworked its strategy to combat the disease by increasing testing manifold, altering the audit committee's mandate on COVID-19 deaths and tightening the lockdown measures.

According to top TMC leaders, the change in strategy can be attributed to various factors-- from growing public discontent that could have dire consequences for the party in the next year's assembly polls, to being left red-faced by the central teams' trenchant observations about "low testing and weak surveillance".

"The reports from districts were disturbing as people were irked with the state government's mismanagement of the crisis. Regular criticism of the Centre's decisions also did not find takers and questions continued to be raised about West Bengal's COVID-19 situation. There was growing pressure from the ground level," a senior TMC leader told PTI.

 

According to the latest data, the state has registered 1,344 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the death toll stands at 140, of which 68 fatalities have been attributed to the contagion, while the remaining had underlying concurrent illnesses called comorbidities in medical parlance.

West Bengal is now conducting nearly 2,500 tests daily and so far 25,116 samples have been examined, officials said.

On April 18, just two days before the two Inter- ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) arrived, Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha had said the state reported 233 coronavirus positive cases and only 12 deaths. The total number of samples tested was a measly 4,600.

The Union health ministry's website, however, lists the total number of cases at 1,259 and the death toll at 133.

The TMC leader said a section of the party brass was unsure about the need for constitution of an expert audit committee to certify the COVID-19 deaths.

However, the panel was formed and it examined a fairly large number of deaths of COVID-19 patients but attributed only a few to the viral disease and most to ailments like hypertension, heart and kidney disease, something which came in for sharp criticism by the central team.

Disturbing videos of people dying of COVID-19 and purportedly being cremated and buried in "secrecy" went viral on social media, compounding the problems for the Mamata Banerjee government even further.

"It was becoming too much of a risk for the party ahead of the 2021 assembly polls," another TMC leader said.

"The top brass then decided to consult poll strategist Prashant Kishor and a multi-pronged strategy was chalked out, which needed both administrative and political will to implement. Under his guidance, the party while putting up a brave face, started rectifying the mistakes and taking on the BJP," he said.

The first signs of a shift in the COVID-19 management strategy and to insulate Banerjee from the criticism over it came last week when the chief minister, despite holding the health portfolio, distanced herself from the controversial decision of constituting the audit committee.

She said it was the state health department's decision and she personally had nothing to do with it.

The state government then altered the committee's mandate and said it will henceforth not certify whether a patient had died due to coronavirus or a pre-existing ailment.

Banerjee had initially garnered praise for her government's handling of the pandemic with her hands-on approach, as she visited crowded marketplaces, admonishing restive customers jostling for space in front of shops and telling them how to maintain social distancing.

Since the day the state reported its first COVID-19 case on March 17, she looked in complete control of the situation, holding review meetings with top officials, issuing orders and squeezing visits to hospitals in between.

Since the cases were few and far between, she was lauded even by her political rivals who appreciated her for taking them along in the fight against the pandemic and seeking their suggestions.

The accolades, however, started drying up as the number of coronavirus cases and deaths rose with more people getting tested, and criticism began coming thick and fast from the Centre and the Raj Bhawan.

The government was particularly panned for the audit of COVID-19 deaths by the expert committee, which the opposition called a tool in the government's hands to hide the actual number of deaths.

Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, too, acknowledged there was a "problem in the reporting structure for COVID-19" but claimed the gaps were now "fixed".

After initially brazening it out with the Centre for alleged "gradual dilution" of the lockdown norms, the Banerjee government has given police a free hand to enforce the shutdown.

Banerjee herself has been visiting various parts of the city, which now has 318 containment zones, and is asking people to stay indoors and abide by all safety restrictions.

Reacting to the development, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh claimed the central team's "nudge" was the reason behind the ruling dispensation's "change of heart", but said doubts still prevailed over the enormity of the situation.

"It is due to the visit of the IMCTs that the state government has now started to open up. However, we feel they are still not revealing the true picture," Ghosh told PTI.

Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "Had the central teams not come to Bengal, the TMC would have continued to hide the facts and figures."

Echoing Chowdhury, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said the situation could have been much better had the Mamata Banerjee government been honest about tackling the pandemic since the beginning.

According to TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee, the West Bengal government has been steadfast in serving the people of the state during this crisis and no one should doubt its intentions.

"This is not the time to find faults. It is the time to fight together and defeat the virus. If there are gaps, we can always fix it. But indulging in politics during a national crisis is unacceptable," he said.