Lockdown was delayed to pull down Congress govt in MP: Kamal Nath

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Sunday blamed the Centre for delaying the lockdown despite the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 as pandemic.

New Delhi:Former Chief Minister and PCC chief of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath alleged that the Centre delayed the lockdown despite the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 as a pandemic.

While briefing media via video conferencing, Kamal Nath said, "MP is the only state which does not have its own Health as well as Home Minister. I resigned on March 16, but the lockdown was announced after Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as CM on March 23."

He further added, "Congress former President Rahul Gandhi had warned about the pandemic on February 12, but nothing was done even after that. Taking into consideration the rise in cases of COVID-19, we had closed all the educational institutions, malls and many other areas on March 12."

The former CM said that Parliament was functioning when Odisha and Chhattisgarh assemblies were adjourned and the MP Speaker too had adjourned the House due to coronavirus. So, it was to show that if Parliament could function, why not the assembly."

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He said the situation in the state has come to such a pass that there has been no cabinet expansion and despite health emergency, there is no health minister in the state.

He said the Congress MLAs had been lured... all of them were not Jyotiraditya Scindia supporters who crossed over to the BJP, which led to the fall of the Congress government.

"All are not Scindia supporters, some have been lured by money. Many of these MLAs had informed us about the kind of allurements. But they will have to face the voters," Nath said. "Besides, there would be dissent from the local BJP candidates".

He said Chouhan's cabinet expansion is delayed because of dissent in the BJP.

Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader Vivek Tankha on Saturday wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding imposition of President's rule in Madhya Pradesh if BJP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan fails to form a cabinet.

Calling it "unconstitutional governance", Tankha hit out at Chouhan, saying the people of Madhya Pradesh deserve a better rule with a cabinet in place, particularly during a pandemic "when the state is suffering deaths daily".

(With inputs from agencies)