India News | Adhir Demands Mamata's Resignation over Handling of COVID-19 Pandemic

Kolkata, Jul 31 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday demanded the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging inefficient handling of the COVID-19 situation in the state.

Chowdhury, the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, alleged that taking advantage of the mismanagement in the government healthcare sector and lack of beds in state-run hospitals, private healthcare facilities in the state are looting COVID-19 patients by charging exorbitant rates for treatment.

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Claiming that top officials of two government hospitals in the city have been shunted out over alleged mismanagement in dealing with COVID-19 cases, he said that "if someone has to be removed for inefficiency, then the West Bengal chief minister should go first".

Chowdhury alleged that the chief minister, who also holds the Health portfolio, has not given due importance to the pandemic and did not tackle the crisis in time, leading to a dangerous situation in the state.

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The Baharampur MP said the number of tests for COVID- 19 in West Bengal is abysmally low compared to most other states in the country and called for an immediate increase in order to find out the actual spread of the virus.

"The corona situation in West Bengal is bad and the real picture will come to the fore if the rate of COVID-19 tests is increased," he said in a video message.

"Private hospitals and nursing homes in the state are looting COVID-19 patients. Other states have put a cap on COVID treatment charges, but West Bengal is doing nothing," he alleged.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)