Bengaluru, Mar 27: Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and Health Minister K Sudhakar sparred on Saturday over the number of Covid-19 deaths in Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah demanded a white paper on the Covid-19 situation in the state after he discovered a data mismatch on the deaths caused due to the virus, accusing the government of lying.
“According to the Department of Health & Family Welfare, the number of Covid-19 deaths till December 2020 is 12,090. According to the Planning & Statistical department, it is 22,320 till December 2020,” Siddaramaiah said in a tweet, posting both data sets. “Which of the above data is true,” he asked Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Sudhakar.
The Congress leader did not stop there. “BJP’s inefficiency, corruption & lies are the reasons for the rise in Covid-19 cases in Karnataka. People of Karnataka are facing the crisis due to mistakes of the shameless BJP government,” he said.
Raking up allegations of misappropriation of funds in the procurement of Covid-19 equipment, Siddaramaiah said BJP leaders were lying. “BJP leaders have not just lied about the Covid-19 related deaths, they have also lied about medicines, masks, sanitizers, PPE kits and other procurements,” he said, chagrin that Sudhakar has been “consistently lying to hide corruption and inefficiency”.
Demanding a white paper on the pandemic, Siddaramaiah said Covid-19 can be “won through treatment and not through lies.”
Sudhakar shot back saying the figures were not final. “These figures are provisional entries in e-Janma software which are subject to reconciliation as per the guidelines issued by the Registrar General of India,” he said. “The verification process is near completion and the final figures are yet to be released.”
Siddaramaiah’s accusation is an “insult” to Corona warriors working tirelessly over the past year, Sudhakar said. “Our government neither intends to hide any figures nor is it necessary. People in responsible positions should refrain from making false allegations for political gains,” he said.
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