Congress' Siddaramaiah accuses BJP of only being concerned about elections but not about second wave of COVID management in Karnataka

Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday accused the Central and state government of only being concerned about elections but not about administration amid second wave of coronavirus.

Taking to Twitter, Siddaramaiah charged state and Central BJP leaders and wrote, "It is really unfortunate that Central BJP and state BJP leaders were only worried about elections but not administration. Why are Karnataka BJP leaders not following the protocols which they are trying to preach to the public?"

"COVID-19 second wave crisis has exposed the fragile public care system under the present BJPCentral and State government. People have become helpless without any medical treatment for COVID-19," he added.

Siddaramaiah accused the Central and State governments of being irresponsible even after the grave experience of COVID-19 first wave.

"India had a grave experience during the first wave. Yet the government has not learned any lesson. Remdesivir, widely used for Covid treatment, is not available. Why was the government not ready with the medicines?" he asked.

"There is also a shortage of normal and ICU beds for COVID patients. People are left to suffer without oxygen and other support systems. Government is just busy solving internal crisis rather than solving public health crisis," he added.

He also urged the Chief Minister of Karnataka to make COVID-19 treatment free for all the patients referred to the private hospitals.

"With government hospitals full, people are heading towards private hospitals for the treatment. Many are unable to afford the private hospital charges. I urge the Chief Minister of Karnataka and state health department minister to make COVID-19 treatment free for all the patients referred to the private hospitals," he wrote.

Karnataka reported 14,859 new COVID-19 cases, 4,031 discharges, and 78 deaths on Thursday as per the state health bulletin on Friday evening. With this, the total Covid tally of the state reached 11,24,509, including 1,07,315 active cases.

( With inputs from ANI )