Team News Riveting
Chandigarh, June 5
Union Minister Hardeep Puri would lead the command of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to take on Captain Amrinder Singh in Punjab.
Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab had been in a defensive mode after it allegedly attempted to ‘reap profits’ from the sale of Corona vaccine. The vaccines from its quota were diverted to private hospitals for hefty money. As the issue snowballed into a major controversy and the Centre stepped in, the state government asked the private hospitals to return all the vaccines and assured refund.
The vaccines, which were acquired by Captain Amarinder Singh government for inoculating people between 18 and 44 preferably with co-morbidities, were apparently sold to private hospitals. This deprived the poor of their change of vaccination.
The issue had armed the BJP to target the Congress party at the Centre that had been grilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the vaccine issue. While Union Minister Prakash Javdekar took the lead at the Centre, his colleague in the cabinet, Hardeep Puri took the command in the state.
Puri castigated the Punjab government and claimed that Max and Fortis hospitals in Mohali charged Rs 3,200 for a Covid shot, and also took on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his repeated attacks-“where is the vaccine for our children”. “I am not raising these questions as a union minister but as a karyakarta of the party from Punjab,” he added.
Puri told Gandhi that the vaccines for children were being thrown in the garbage in Rajasthan and were being used for profiteering in Punjab, both Congress-ruled states.
“Why did they take this decision, and why did they take it back, ” Puri questioned the Punjab government. Was there an arrangement between the Punjab government and hospitals,” he asked.
