After playing petty politics over the oxygen crisis in the national capital, the AAP government has begun diverting attention from its poor vaccination efforts by shifting goalposts. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday slammed the central government for not providing them with the number of ‘ordered’ jabs making it difficult for them to carry out the inoculation process smoothly.
Sisodia claimed that the Delhi government ordered for 1.34 crore doses of vaccine from the manufactures for people in the 18-44 age group but the Centre allotted only 3.5 lakh doses to them for the month of May.
Sisodia parroted the claims made by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal that when the central government decided in April that states can directly place orders with vaccine manufacturers, the Arvind Kejriwal government ordered 1.34 crore doses for the people in the 18-44 age group.
कभी चुनाव, कभी कुम्भ और कभी विदेशों में वैक्सीन बेचने के चक्कर में देश का बेड़ा गरक करने वाली भाजपा के झूठे प्रोपगंडा का जवाब-
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) May 10, 2021
⁃दिल्ली सरकार ने अप्रैल में ही कंपनियों को 1.34 करोड़ वैक्सीन का आर्डर दिया था।
⁃जवाब में केंद्र सरकार ने कहा कि दिल्ली को मई में केवल 3.5 लाख वैक्सीन pic.twitter.com/bRHX2qhZeA
Tweeting the copies of the letter, he said the Centre has now told them that Delhi can have only 3.5 lakh doses in May.
In his Tweet, the Deputy CM of Delhi lashed out at the Centre saying that the “BJP is practising politics of lies and falsely accusing the Delhi government of ordering 5.5 lakh vaccine doses only”.
The deputy CM maintained that the central government has refused to provide them with the ‘ordered’ dose of vaccines.
BJP hits back at AAP govt for its petty politics
In response to these allegations, BJP hit back saying that the Delhi government was resorting to blatent lies to wriggle out of the quandary. They accused Kejriwal govt of being responsible for the “unparalleled Covid-19 crisis” in the city. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also shared the copies of the two letters to prove that the claim being made by the Kejriwal government is indeed false and merely an attempt to malign the central government.
He said that in the letter, the Delhi government had in clear words expressed only its intent to procure the vaccines from the two manufacturers.
Patra said that the letter dated April 26 to the Govt of India clearly stated that the Delhi Govt plans to procure 67 lakh doses of Covishield and Covaxin from Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech respectively. It no where talks about placing the orders for the vaccines, cleared Patra.
“Read both these letters released by AAP Govt, carefully, you would find that these are not ‘letters of placing the ORDER’ of 1.34 crore vaccines as said by CM Kejriwal. At best these letters are “Letters of INTENT” ( …we are planning to procure) Can’t pass these as orders!” said the BJP spokesperson.
A closer look at the letter makes it evident that what Sambit Patra said is indeed correct. The letters mention that the AAP Govt in Delhi is “planning to procure”. No where does it mention that they have placed an order with the manufacturers, as they are now claiming.
Interestingly, when Manish Sisodia shared the above screenshots, he underlined ‘procure 67 (Sixty Seven) lakh doses of Covaxin and Covishield’, but conveniently left out the word ‘planning’, which elucidates that the Delhi govt had not placed an order with the manufacturers of the vaccines but were mulling over it.
“Right after our order, the Centre sent us a letter saying Delhi can get only 3.5 lakh doses in May including 92,840 doses of Covaxin and 2,67,690 doses of Covishield. The vaccine companies had not responded by then. BJP is lying that we ordered only 5.50 lakh doses. We had ordered 1.34 crore doses,” Manish Sisodia claimed, despite the letters written by the Delhi Govt speaking a different story altogether.
Arvind Kejriwal’s shenanigan over medical oxygen
It becomes crucial at this point to recollect, how, Arvind Kejriwal and his party had made a major hue and cry about oxygen supplies in the city, pinning the blame on the centre for the crisis. The matter was taken to such extremes that the Delhi HC and then the Supreme Court had to intervene.
For a good amount of time Kejriwal maintained that Delhi needed a daily supply of at least 976 MT of oxygen to emerge out of the crisis in the national capital. It accused Centre of not providing them with adequate medical oxygen. When central government requested an audit to know the real demand for Oxygen in Delhi, the Kejriwal govt turned down the request.
But after the city-state was supplied with 730 MT of oxygen following court orders, the CM suddenly took a U turn and said that national Capital’s oxygen shortage problem was resolved and that they have enough oxygen to open thousands of new oxygen beds.
