Amid the lockdown to combat the coronavirus, Union Minister Babul Supriyo on Tuesday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that the state is fighting a more dangerous virus than the COVID-19 and it is the government led by CM Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, he added that it was just a matter of time that the antibodies against the virus, called Didi, will start working in West Bengal.
"We are just not fighting COVID-19 but fighting a more dangerous VIRUS in West Bengal and that’s the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress (TMC). It’s just a matter of time that the antibodies against the virus called Didi will start working in West Bengal," he tweeted.
We R just not fighting #COVID2019 but fighting a more dangerous VIRUS in West Bengal &that’s the WB Govt led by @MamataOfficial & @AITCofficial It’s just a matter of time that the antibodies against the virus called Didi will start working in West Bengal @BJP4India @BJP4Bengal
— Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) April 21, 2020
This comes a day after CM Banerjee claimed she was kept in "dark" about the visit of central teams to assess the COVID-19 situation, the leader of one of the panels claimed the state government is not extending adequate cooperation. The central government has constituted six Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to make an on-spot assessment of the COVID-19 situation in these places and issue necessary directions to the four states -- Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal -- for redress.
The Union home ministry said on April 20 morning the COVID-19 situation is "especially serious" in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and a few other places in West Bengal, and that the violation of lockdown measures risk the spread of the novel coronavirus. Apurva Chandra, the leader of one of the two teams sent to the state, claimed its members were told they "will not be going out" on Tuesday.
Banerjee had expressed her displeasure in a series of tweets and sought to know the rationale behind the formation of central teams to visit the states. She urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to share with her the criteria to be followed by the teams for the assessment of the situation, without which her government "would not be able to move ahead".
Supriyo had also criticised CM Banerjee's decision to allow the opening of a big flower market and claimed that it would endanger public safety. The senior BJP leader said the opening of the flower market would send a "wrong signal" that the state is not facing coronavirus threat. He had been criticising the CM on issues ranging from supply of testing kits to the state to alleged loot in ration items.
