Bihar reports 6,000 COVID cases in 24 hrs; RJD demands health minister's resignation

Amid rising cases of coronavirus in Bihar, RJD national spokesperson Nawal Kishore on Thursday demanded the immediate resignation of the state health minister. He alleged that the Bihar government has failed to deal with the virus and also incompetent in providing medical facilities to the citizens.

New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) national spokesperson Nawal Kishore on Thursday slammed the Bihar government for inadequate facilities at COVID-19 hospitals and asked state health minister Mangal Pandey to return from campaigning in West Bengal to witness the horrifying situation back home.

Pandey, who was campaigning for the BJP, came to Patna on Tuesday and inspected Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH).

While he was inspecting the facilities at the NMCH, a 60-year-old retired army man Vinod Kumar Singh died outside the casualty ward. His son Abhimanyu Singh claimed that he had requested the hospital administration several times to at least allow his father inside, but the doctors refused.

Commenting on the death, the RJD spokesperson alleged that the state health minister should be held responsible for medical failure as the hospital staff denied admitting the patient until the minister was done with his inspection.

He maintained that the minister had also failed in dealing with the Encephalitis Syndrome (Chamki Bukhar) in 2019 which claimed the lives of at least 100 children.

Bihar reported 6,133 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the state health department informed on Thursday. The state capital, Patna, recorded the highest COVID-19 cases with 2,105 new infections in the last 24 hours.

As the state witnessed a steep rise in the cases, Nawal Kishore sought an immediate resignation of Pandey.

Earlier today, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP National President J.P. Nadda to release state health minister Mangal Pandey from the West Bengal poll campaign.

Tejashwi's reaction came after soaring infections and consequent deaths, including that of two IAS officers in Bihar.