At a time when questions are being raised on the failure of Mamata Banerjee government to tackle the coronavirus crisis in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seems to be preparing to respond to her detractors politically. With opposition parties in the state, especially BJP is accusing the government of fudging data on the coronavirus patients in the state, Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its chief Mamata Banerjee has decided to rope in election strategist Prashant Kishor to tackle the crisis, reports India Today.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been at the received end of the criticism has summoned poll strategist Prashant Kishor to help her counter criticism against her government over mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis in the state.
Prashant Kishor travelled in a cargo flight
As reported by India Today, Prashant Kishor was resting in Delhi due to the lockdown after the promotional campaign ‘Banglar Garbo Mamta’ in West Bengal. Prashant Kishor left Delhi for West Bengal as soon as he received the message from Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of TMC MP and Mamta Banerjee.
The report by India Today said, “Prashant Kishor, who had been cooling off his heels in Delhi after his public outreach campaign in West Bengal, ‘Banglar Garbo Mamata’, went on a freezer following the lockdown, reached the state in a cargo flight. He reached Kolkata around the same time as the Inter-Ministerial Central teams (IMCT) sent by the Modi government arrived in Kolkata to inspect how the lockdown is being implemented in the state”.
After the India Today report, BJP too said that Prashant Kishor was brought to Kolkata secretly in a cargo plane, violating the lockdown, at the instance of his current benefactor Mamata Banerjee.
Prashant Kishor rushed to Kolkata after an SOS message from TMC MP and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Abhishek has been working to manage the crisis and had a series of meetings with Kishor before the meeting with the chief minister.
Prashant Kishor will supervise the counter-offensive campaign to take on the BJPon social media and in media channels, which have been raving against Mamata Banerjee for failing to limit the spread of coronavirus pandemic.
Prashant Kishor denies allegations
After the India Today report and the charges being picked up by BJP, Prashant Kishor hit out and said that if BJP has the proof about his travel to Bengal, they should furnish it and if not, apologise. Prashant Kishor has also said that he would retire from public life if the charges are proven true.
BJP on offensive against Mamata Banerjee
The BJP has been constantly attacking the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government for faltering to tackle coronavirus crisis.
The BJP has been on the offensive, puncturing holes in the false claims made by Mamata Banerjee government in tackling the crisis. The BJP leadership in the state is also very vocal against the West Bengal government for not carrying out sufficient tests and also suppressing facts about coronavirus deaths and active patients.
Added to Mamata’s worry, several social media pages have started shooting off sharing videos and stories of deliberate violation of lockdown in Muslim-dominated areas of Bengal. Various social media pages have been accusing Mamata Banerjee-led government of shielding Tablighi Jamaat returnees, which the people fear that the entire population of Bengal could come under risk due to such brazen violation.
Moreover, ministers like Babul Supriyo, MP Swapan Dasgupta, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh have accused Mamata Banerjee and her government for messing up the situation in Bengal by being slack on lockdown rules and not being transparent about the overall health scenario in the state.
Doctors, healthcare workers exposed lack of facilities in Bengal
A section of doctors and health workers have also exposed Mamata Banerjee government’s laxity in tackling the coronavirus. Healthcare workers have put out videos which depict lack of kits, PPE, masks and gloves, showing the true picture of the health sector in the West Bengal.
The doctors had alleged they were being forced to work against medical ethics by withholding the causes of death from a patient party and in the general public even though they were writing death certificates.
Earlier, healthcare workers had written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanding more transparency on detection, treatment and deaths of coronavirus positive patients in the state.
The medical organisations also urged the West Bengal Chief Minister to ensure safety and security for all the frontline healthcare workers, and provide necessary protective measures as per ICMR and World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
West Bengal sitting on a “time-bomb”: Health experts
The suppression of facts and fudging of data has become a major worry for authorities and health experts in West Bengal, which has now snowballed into a huge controversy between the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government and health-care experts.
The health-care experts believe that the situation in Bengal is very grave as the Mamata Banerjee-led government has not been giving real data to assess the actual seriousness of the pandemic. From threats to doctors for whistleblowing against the state government against lack of facilities to allegations of state government illegally disposing of dead bodies, there have been serious allegations against the Mamata Banerjee government in Bengal.
