BJP Alleges Bengal Govt Suppressing Coronavirus Data, Urges Governor Dhankhar to Intervene

The BJP on Saturday alleged that the West Bengal government is suppressing information on the number of COVID-19 cases in the state and urged Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to take up the issue with the Trinamool Congress-led dispensation to ensure that accurate data is disseminated.

A BJP delegation led by state party president Dilip Ghosh called on Dhankhar at the Raj Bhavan here and told him, "People do not have confidence on the data provided by the state government."

The delegation, which also included senior party leaders Mukul Roy and Rahul Sinha, said there is discrepancy between the data provided by the Centre and that released by the state government.

It told Dhankhar that on April 10 there were 116 COVID-19 cases in West Bengal according to the Centre, while the state government put the number at 95, a Raj Bhavan statement said.

The BJP claimed that testing of samples has been very low in the state and told the governor that around 5,000 testing kits have not been distributed and "wherever testing kits were sent, they have hardly been used".

It claimed that 1,000 testing kits were sent to Malda district alone, but not a single test was conducted. "The situation is similarly worrisome elsewhere," the delegation said.

The BJP also expressed concern over doctors and nurses being quarantined "in one hospital after another" and said the poor quality of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) being provided to them is to blame for this.

The party's delegation alleged that all those from the state who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi have not yet been identified and quarantined.

"They pose a serious threat of transmission," it said. It also sought Dhankhar's intervention into instances of "dilution of lockdown" enforcement.

"Religious congregations are taking place and social distancing is not being maintained," the BJP delegation said.

Earlier, in a communication to the chief secretary and the DGP of West Bengal, the Union Home Ministry had objected to the "gradual dilution" of lockdown in the state.

It said shops of non-essential goods were allowed to open in the state and the police also gave permission to religious gatherings. The ministry also said there is no regulation in vegetable, fish and mutton markets and social-distancing norms are being violated at these places in the state.