TDP supremo and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu today slammed incumbent CM Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his government for allegedly "completely failing" to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the state.
Speaking to the media, he said that under its negligent rule, the infection rate had reached 25.9%, and added that the people of the state were dying due to this "inefficiency".
"The GOs issued by the state government are not being implemented anywhere in the state. The behaviour of the CM and his colleagues has been nothing short of irresponsible, and has led to the deaths of scores of innocent people. The vaccination program has also not been up to scratch. Some say that the government has even been submitting fake reports to the high court of the state to now cover up its failures," the TDP head fumed.
Referring to the statement of the AP government that it had included Covid-19 treatment in the Aarogyasri healthcare scheme, he said that the claim was false.
Naidu then demanded that the Jagan regime take stronger steps to protect the lives of the people, and said, "Film theatres and liquor shops were reopened in our state before they were reopened in other states of the country. In the meantime, no hospitals in AP are giving beds to Covid-19 patients. Lakhs of rupees are being charged by private hospitals. The teachers and students of AP have also become victims of the government's failure to manage the pandemic, and its illogical call to reopen educational institutions. I want to ask the CM who has given him the right to play with the lives of innocent students. His regime is responsible for the death of 130 school teachers as well. The state government must do much more to stand by the people through the pandemic."
Apart from facing criticism for its handling of the pandemic, the Jagan government has drawn
much flak over its call to not cancel the exams for the tenth graders in the state.