New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday came down heavily on the Centre for having claimed that no oxygen related deaths were flagged by states and UTs during the second wave of Coronavirus, adding it will move a Privilege Motion against the Union Health Minister Mansukh L Mandaviya. In response to an unstarred question (to which written answer needs to be provided) of Congress Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal, the Health Ministry had issued a statement saying, "No deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by States/UTs." The Congress RS MP had asked the Centre to present the data on deaths due to oxygen shortage during the second Covid wave.
Responding to the issue, Venugopal addressing a press conference said, "The government has given a reply today that nobody in the country died due to shortage of oxygen. In every state we saw how many patients died due to lack of oxygen. We know. The Minister misled the house. We will move a privilege motion against the Minister."
While speaking to ETV Bharat, Congress' Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said, "In Rajya Sabha, they themselves had given a reply to an unstarred question, so how can they deny it later. Also, we all know that people did not find oxygen, then Government started mobilizing it. Just because they don't want to tell the reality to the nation, they are hiding their mistakes."
Read: Oppn furious as govt says no deaths due to oxygen shortage during COVID-19
Meanwhile, the newly appointed Union Health Minister had also spoken over the matter in a separate development saying, "Centre complies and publishes the data sent in by the state government. Our work is to publish the data and nothing else. We haven't told anyone to show fewer numbers (of deaths) or less positive cases. There is no reason for that. The PM has said the same in meetings with CMs." To this, Congress' Kharge replied, "It is their failure. when you can engage Israel for spying, can't you get information in your own country?"
Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said, "BJP government's statement that no one has died due to shortage of oxygen is even a bigger lie than saying that China did not enter the Indian territory. BJP's addiction to spread fake news, peddle propaganda and turn blind eye towards the pain of the people has reached dangerous proportions."
On the other hand, the Congress party, on Tuesday, also skipped the all-party meeting called by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wherein the Health Ministry officials had to give a PowerPoint Presentation on the current situation of Covid-19 pandemic. Explaining the matter, Kharge said, "Our point was that all MPs should be given information, not only the floor leaders. I want all the Parliament members to be provided with latest information so that it can be spread all over the country. If you speak to only one or two people, it won't be useful."
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