The party alleged that the Telangana CM was alone responsible for the huge rise in the number of cases in the state.
Former minister & ex-Leader Of Opposition in the Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was playing with the lives of the common people by mishandling the coronavirus situation in Telangana.
Addressing party cadres on Wednesday, Shabbir Ali said that even after four months, the state government had no clear action plan to deal with the coronavirus situation.
He said that the KCR government had failed to trace, test and treat the people affected by the coronavirus in time. A casual approach and delayed decisions had nullified the measures that were taken to prevent the spread of the virus during the lockdown. Consequently, now the deadly virus had taken the entire state into its grip, especially after the relaxation in lockdown since June 1.
He expressed serious concern over the huge rise in Covid-19 positive cases in Telangana since June 1, and feared that they might increase further.
"On an average, one in every five samples being tested is being found Covid-19 positive. At this rate, there is a possibility of Telangana having more than 50,000 active cases in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, the KCR government did not make any efforts to handle the situation by upgrading the health infrastructure. All the private hospitals are already filled to the capacity with no beds left to accommodate new cases. And there is no manpower or infrastructure in the government hospitals to deal with the rising number of cases," he said.
"As of June 23 there were 5,109 active Covid-19 positive cases in the state. The state government is unable to handle the existing cases due to shortage of manpower and other facilities. The entire burden has been put on Gandhi Hospital, and no other hospital was upgraded despite the fact that many experts had predicted a spurt in cases. The much-hyped Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences at Gachibowli is nothing but a lodge as it does not have any doctors, para-medical staff, medicines or other facilities. Other government hospitals identified for Covid-19 treatment lack the required facilities," he alleged.
Ali added that the KCR government had lost precious time and did not make any preparations to deal with the present scenario which had been predicted long ago by many experts. He said that the Chief Minister did not respond to the positive suggestions given by the Congress, and had created a false impression that Covid-19 was under control. He said that the situation would have been different if the state government had conducted testing at a massive scale in the month of April.
"Since no testing was done, thousands of people remained ignorant that they were Covid-19 positive, and they spread the virus unconsciously by moving along with the general public," he said, and added that KCR was alone responsible for the huge rise in the number of cases in the state.
He also expressed serious concern over the huge rise in positive cases in Hyderabad, especially the south zone which was represented mostly by the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.
"I appeal to MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi to pressurise KCR to conduct more tests in the Old City and ensure free treatment. People have been voting for your party for the last 52 years and it is your duty to protect their lives. You tweet about everything in support of the TRS government and KTR. Why are you afraid of questioning KCR on his failure to trace, test and treat Covid-19 patients in Hyderabad? Stop fearing KCR and try to protect the lives of the people who voted for you," he said.
The Congress leader also slammed BJP National President J P Nadda and Health Minister Etala Rajender for indulging in a blame game. "The BJP and the TRS are ruling at the Centre and the state respectively. Instead of taking corrective measures to deal with the situation, they are blaming each other for worsening the crisis. They should focus on saving people's lives rather than finding excuses to stave off criticism for failures," he said.
"If the BJP genuinely believes that the TRS government mishandled the Covid-19 situation, then it should ask its own government at the Centre to declare a health emergency in Telangana and take control of the situation. Similarly, if the TRS leaders truly believe that the union government did injustice to Telangana, then KCR should have raised this issue during the video conference with the Prime Minister," he said. The TRS and the BJP were just diverting the people's attention from their failures by indulging in a "cheap" blame game, he alleged.
Shabbir Ali also condemned the Telangana police for permitting the ruling party leaders, including ministers, to organise public events in violation of the Covid-19 guidelines. He also alleged that a few police officials were behaving like TRS workers and targeting the Congress party leaders. Stating that he had been placed under house arrest thrice this month, he asked whether Covid-19 rules were applicable only for the Congress leaders.
Claiming that the KCR government was incapable of handling the Covid-19 situation, he appealed to the people to take all possible precautions to stay safe.