Though the infant death toll at government-run JK Lon hospital in Kota continues to rise to reach an alarming number of 104, Congress government in the state seems to be completely unaffected by the tragedy.
Days after trivialising the incident by saying that “children die, there is nothing new in it”, the Rajasthan CM today said that “Some people are trying to divert attention from ‘other major issues’ such as CAA and NRC’.
In a media brief, Ashok Gehlot attempts to shrug off his responsibilities by saying that some people are trying to divert the attention from the Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC by talking about the infant deaths in Kota. According to the CM the “real issue” is CAA and NRC and not hundreds of children dying in the Congress-ruled state.
#Breaking | LIVE: Rajasthan CM @ashokgehlot51 briefs media over ‘KotaHorror’.
‘Some people are trying to divert attention from ‘other major issues’ such as CAA & NRC’, says CM Ashok Gehlot.Listen in. pic.twitter.com/ehhIJRgw4d
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) January 2, 2020
Ashok Gehlot denied any negligence on part of the hospital. He also sought to play down the death toll, saying, “1000 children have died under BJP’s rule, while 100 have died under Congress rule. There should be no politics in it. The media is creating an issue out of it.”
The apathetic response by CM Ashok Gehlot comes only a day after the Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma was seen dodging questions asked to him on the incident in a debate. While the news anchor is seen repeatedly coaxing the minister to answer the government’s apathy towards the family of the children, the minister was heard saying: “mein kuch nahi keh sakta” (I cannot comment in this regard), before taking out the microphone and walking away.
It is pertinent to note here that several Congress functionaries have even been arrested and charged for the violence that has been unleashed by Muslim mobs across the country.
The apathetic attitude of the Congress government in the state has not gone down well with many Opposition parties who have demanded Gehlot’s resignation.
BSP supremo Mayawati, on Friday, said that the chief minister should be sacked. The former UP chief minister charged that Gehlot was making political statements that were irresponsible and unsympathetic. “This is highly shameful,” Mayawati said in a tweet.
She demanded that Gehlot is dismissed and replaced by a new dispensation otherwise more women will lose their children.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the BSP chief had on Thursday targeted the Congress over infant deaths, suggesting that party leader Priyanka Gandhi should have gone there to console the children’s mothers instead of “playing politics” in UP.
It is indeed tragic that while over a 100 kids have died in Kota, the Chief Minister thinks that the more pertinent issue that the media should be focussing on the fictitious issue of CAA and NRC that is purely a product of the Congress’ imagination. Several Congress leaders have been charged for instigating violence during anti-CAA riots.
While investigating the incidents of statewide violence which occurred on December 21, the Patna Police recently got their hands on Congress leader Ashutosh Sharma who has been accused of attacking media people during the Bihar bandh and has been on the run since then. Congress leader Ashutosh Sharma was caught on camera assaulting journalists at the Dak Bungalow Chowk in Patna. The Congress leader was reportedly on the run after the case was registered against him.
The crime branch of Ahmedabad police had nabbed a Congress leader for posting a fake and misleading video on social media which incited a Muslim mob during a protest march at Shah-e-Alam, Gujarat, where several police officials were brutally attacked by Muslim mobs.
Congress party’s minority cell member Umar Khan Pathan had shared a video on social media in which a police action against rioters from Lucknow was passed on as an incident in Ahmedabad stoking violence in the Shah-e-Alam. The fake news had unleashed a violent Muslim mob, who attacked and injured more than 25 policemen on duty.
The Ahmedabad Police had arrested Congress Corporator Shehzad Khan Pathan along with 32 others for carrying out the deadly attack during anti-CAA riots on police personnel. They have been booked for attempt to murder, rioting and assaulting police.
Additionally, Six people including four local politicians and the former Congress MLA were named as suspects in the Delhi Police FIR related to Jamia violence. The Delhi Police had named former Congress MLA Asif Khan as one of the accused in its FIR.
Essentially, CM Ashok Gehlot wants the media to focus on a problem created by Congress itself and not ask his government any questions on the deaths of children in his state. While the CAA aims to give citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighbouring Islamic nations, the NRC aims to ensure that illegal immigrants in India from neighbouring countries are not allowed to settle here. Interestingly, while CAA has been passed by the Parliament, NRC is only limited to Assam till now. The Congress has instigated Muslim mobs in the country to go on a rampage by spreading falsehoods and lies and now, it seems to be using the violence to obfuscate from its governance failings.
