Praising Uttar Pradesh’s handling of the second covid wave in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it “unparalleled” during an election campaign in Varanasi on Thursday morning.
Despite the state registering more than 30,000 new infections every day during the peak of the second attack of coronavirus, he said UP had “stood up and battled the virus efficiently.” This number was a big jump from the 7,016 cases reported in the first wave.
UP is the most populous state in India but managed to control the pandemic and hence, its management is “worthy of praise,” PM Modi went on to say.
Amidst reports of fake vaccines being given at government inoculation centres, he admired the state’s vaccination tally as UP has given “the maximum in the country”. Further praising its healthcare sector, he applauded the frontline workers and expressed gratitude.
“I am immensely thankful and grateful for all the ‘corona warriors’ and all those who have come and helped in these trying times. Today, UP has done the maximum vaccinations in the country. A vaccine for all… a free vaccine… is the aim of the government and it is being done,” the PM said.
ALSO READ: Uttar Pradesh Covid panel suggests random genome sequencing in every city
According to the CoWIN website, UP has given 3.89 crore doses till now. However, last month’s report of the Oxford Economics showed that UP is still not protected as it needs to inoculate at least 30 per cent of its people with both doses to reach a “safe level”, unlike other smaller states with less population.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court questioned the Adityanath government over its order for zero hindrance to people from going ahead with their Kanwar Yatra, despite continued warnings from health experts and scientists of a third, more horrific covid wave, if gatherings and crowds aren’t controlled now.
The praise for Yogi Adityanath’s administration comes right after Wednesday’s SC hearing, where the top court said that Indian citizens were “perplexed” at UP’s decision, especially as it was preceded by Modi’s call to stay away from congregations in a bid to avoid facing a faster and much deadlier spread of covid with the Delta variant in full swing.
This is also amid BJP’s internal disputes as the party members are publicly complaining against Adityanath’s handling of the pandemic situation. The most vocal amongst these was Lok Sabha MP Santosh Gangwar who was stripped of his Labour Minister status this month after the cabinet’s reset. He had complained about the issues in Bareilly, UP.
ALSO READ: ‘We were a little disturbed’: SC on UP govt pressing for Kanwar Yatra
Uttar Pradesh continued to be in the limelight for all the wrong reasons since the pandemic began and earlier due to the high level of crimes reported there. In May and June this year, the state was in the news after hundreds of bodies were washed ashore the Ganga with many floating on the polluted water. Some reports suggested family members of those dead burying them near the banks due to lack of finances for proper rites while others put the focus on the degraded healthcare sector in the state.
However, the Up government denied to accept the bodies as covid patients, refusing to link the dead to the pandemic. Apart from this, several people have lashed out at the government for undercounting and not reporting covid related deaths. More recently, former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav called out Yogi over the death of teachers due to covid who were assigned to panchayat poll duties.
While a teacher’s body said that 90 per cent of the 1,600+ teachers who had died due to the virus since April first week were given poll duties, the state claimed only 3 of them were virus-linked.
As per the official reports, Uttar Pradesh has only 1,428 active cases, despite locals and experts reporting a much higher number.
