Says Punjab AAP leadership party to conspiracy to fudge data and cover up failures of Delhi govt
Asks why Punjab AAP didn’t speak up against Delhi govt order to deny medical treatment to residents of Punjab
Dr Daljit Singh Cheema asks Bhagwant Mann to speak up and force course correction or resign from his post
Chandigarh, June 14, 2020: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convener Bhagwant Mann why he had not uttered a single word against the mishandling of the COVID-19 crisis by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal even as it accused him of being party to the conspiracy to fudge data and cover up the failures of the Delhi government.
The SAD asked the Punjab AAP Convener to speak up and force the Delhi government to go in for a course correction or resign from his post.
In a statement here, former minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said the Delhi government had started fudging data to show low COVID-19 casualties in early May. “The COVID-19 deaths recorded in crematoria and burial grounds did not match the official numbers put out by the Delhi government. This was also the time when Bhagwant Mann behaved like a puppet of Kejriwal and provided him tactical support by talking about the Delhi model and how this model had effectively controlled the spread of Caronavirus in Delhi. Now we know these claims were deliberate lies to befool the people with even the Supreme Court stating on record that COVID-19 patients were being treated worse than animals in Delhi. Despite the reality of the Delhi healthcare model being totally exposed by the media and the general public, Mann is still trying to find scapegoats to cover up Kejriwal’s failures.
Dr Cheema said the whole point of the lockdown was to prepare the medical infrastructure for coming onslaught of COVID-19 patients. He said the Delhi government did not improve infrastructure in its hospitals and was not providing proper treatment to COVID-19 patients. “Now it is finding scapegoats in private hospitals even though it is the Delhi government which is to blame if private hospitals are turning away patients or over-charging them”.
The SAD leader also asked Bhagwant Mann to explain why he did not condemn the Delhi government’s decision to deny healthcare to outsiders in Delhi. He said this step was anti-Punjab also as Punjabis falling sick in Delhi would have been denied treatment had not the Lt Governor overruled this decision. He said while this revealed the anti-Punjab face of Mann it also proved that he was a mere puppet in the hands of the Delhi AAP leadership.
Dr Cheema said in case the Punjab AAP leaders had any humanity left in them they should speak up against the deliberate under-testing for COVID-19 in Delhi. “Even frontline workers are being denied tests as also are symptomatic contacts of confirmed COVID patients. The victims of the pandemic are being denied dignity in death. If the Punjab AAP leaders have any conscience they should immediately tell Arvind Kejriwal to curtail his publicity budget and utilize the same for improving health infrastructure instead of frittering it away in cheap publicity”, Dr Cheema added.