The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a mega virtual demonstration on Saturday against the alleged failure of the ruling Congress Government in handing COVID-19 situation. BJP workers protested across State on Saturday in front of their house, accusing State Government of failure and negligence in fighting against corona. Staging a sit-in protest against the horrific state of corona in State, the BJP alleged that Chhattisgarh is the topmost State in the country in terms of spreading COVID-19 infection and State Government has not only failed in improving the health infrastructure, but have failed to provide health facilities like increasing numbers of general and oxygenated beds for COVID patients, providing ventilators and life saving drugs.

 

Reacting to the current COVID-19 situation and hardships being faced by the people, BJP National Vice-President Dr Raman Singh lashed out at State Government saying merely the imposition of lockdown will not help. Until and unless State Government provides complete treatment and testing facilities to the COVID patients, merely imposition of lockdown will not help. If State Government thinks it can break the chain of COVID-19 infection through lockdown, it is impossible until the system is not ameliorated. Dr Singh while talking about the pains being taken by the doctors, para-medical staff, health service and frontline workers, urged the state government to look after their safety and adequately compensate for their tiresome and risky work executions.

 

They are working day and night amidst life risk, they should be provided at least one month’s additional salary as bonus. He said in the first phase the numbers of cases didn’t cross the 4000 mark in Chhattisgarh but in the second spike it has crossed the 17,000 mark. Over 200 people died in a single day and 6,890 people had died in Chhattisgarh due to this dreaded virus, yet State Government has not woken up from its slumber. If State Government fails to make arrangements for ventilators, oxygenated beds, ICU beds, etc then when will it do so. The State Government has Rs 400 crore collected as cess from liquor sale for COVID-19 infrastructure, Rs 2,000 crore from DMF, when will it use these funds, if not now.

 

Tests have been virtually stopped which should be increased. BJP State President Vishnu Deo Sai, former Ministers Brijmohan Agrawal, Rajesh Munat, Ajay Chandrakar, former Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal, MP Ramvichar Netam, Mahila Morcha President Shalini Rajput and other senior leaders while staging dharna said they are trying to wake up the ruling Congress government from its slumber. Instead of providing relief to the people across State, the Government is busy infighting. Situation has become so grim that there are no beds available in hospitals and the government is transporting dead in garbage vans. BJP Legislative Party Leader Dharamlal Kaushik, Raipur MP Sunil Soni, Srichand Sundrani, Deojibhai Patel, MPs Santosh Pandey and Vijay Baghel, Shivratan Sharma, Narayan Chandel, Saurabh Singh, Rajnish Singh, Kiran Dev, Bhupendra Savanni, Kedar Kashyap, Mahesh Gagda, Naveen Markande along with all party office-bearers and workers, corporators, etc participated in the mega statewide virtual dharna.