India News | Goa Cong Writes to Guv over Poor Handling of COVID-19 Situation

Panaji, May 27 (PTI) The Goa Congress on Thursday wrote to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari demanding the dismissal of the BJP government in the state for its failure to handle the COVID-19 situation.

In a letter to the governor, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar claimed that over 2,000 Goans had died and continue to die due to lack of oxygen, ventilator beds, essential medicines and hospital beds.

When all the chief ministers in the country took effective steps to control the pandemic through lockdowns and curfews and by procuring essential drugs and oxygen for COVID-19 patients, Sawant had continued to ridicule the people of Goa, the Congress leader said.

Chodankar claimed that the chief minister had created a false impression by telling people that they need not fear the pandemic.

"His often-repeated rhetoric that 'bhivpachi garaj naa' - no one needs to be afraid - created a sense of complacency among people of Goa and invited everyone from the rest of the country to come to Goa," he wrote.

People from states that were reeling under the pandemic made a beeline for Goa by all modes of transport and thronged the beaches, night clubs, casinos and hotels, he said.

The state government was refusing to impose a lockdown or curfew, as it wanted to pander to these lobbies, the Congress leader alleged.

Chodankar also drew the governor's attention to the tussle and public fight between the chief minister and state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.

"Goans have lost confidence in your government. The existing poor facilities have been stretched too far to provide any solace to the people of Goa," he said.

(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)