BJP MLA on UP Govt’s Handling of Covid

In another instance of BJP leaders raising questions on the UP government’s handling of the Covid situation, party MLA from Sitapur (Sadar) Rakesh Rathore said he might face sedition charges if he spoke too much.

“Vidhayakon ki haisiyat kya hai…Hum jyada kahenge to desh droh, raj droh humpe bhi to lagega (What is the status of an MLA? If we speak too much, then we too will have to face sedition charges),” the MLA said when he was asked why the trauma centre project in Sitapur district was still non-operational, Indian Express reported.

Rakesh Rathore speaking on the why the lockdown wasn’t being strictly enforced said everything is going well and it nothing can go better than this. He added, “I am not the government but I can tell you consider whatever the government is saying as correct.”

When asked if he feared sedition charges despite being an MLA, he said, “Lagega ki unko koi bol para (They will think someone has spoken out).”

The report also added that Rathore later said that he stood by what he said but does not want to speak any further. “I have spoken about my feelings, and it is better that I do not speak any more,” he added.

Four BJP MLAs have died of Covid in the state so far. Dal Bahadur Kori was MLA from Rae Bareli, while Kesar Singh Gangwar from Nawabganj, Suresh Kumar Srivastava from Lucknow (West) and Ramesh Chandra Diwakar from Auraiya Sadar have died of Covid.

The Allahabad High Court while hearing a PIL over the coronavirus spread and the condition of quarantine centres in UP, said, “The entire medical system in villages and small cities of Uttar Pradesh is at God’s mercy (“Ram bharose”). A High Court Bench of Justices Siddharth Verma and Ajit Kumar made the observation while taking into account the death of Santosh Kumar (64), who was admitted to an isolation ward at a Meerut hospital. The doctors there failed to identify him and disposed of the body as unidentified, according to a probe report.

Uttar Pradesh on Monday reported 285 coronavirus deaths as 9,391 fresh cases surfaced, taking the state’s infection tally to 16,28,990. So far, 17,817 people have died from the infection in the state.

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