India News |  HP-CONG-QUARANTINE Cong Flays HP BJP Govt for ‘separate' Quarantine Norms for VIPs and Masses

Shimla, June 12 (PTI) The Himachal Congress on Friday flayed the state's BJP government, accusing it of adopting two sets of quarantine norms -- one for the VIPs and another for the masses.

The state Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore hit out at the government, asking how BJP's national spokesperson Nalin Kohli and a man from Delhi were allowed to visit Kangra and Shimla districts on June 11 and June 1 respectively from red zone Delhi without undergoing mandatory quarantine for 14 days.

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A common man returning to HP from red zones is quarantined for 14 days, while Kolhi and the Delhi man were allowed to visit Kangra's Dharamshala and the police headquarters in Shimla flouting quarantine norms.

Earlier too, BJP MPs from Mandi and Kangra had returned to Himachal Pradesh from Delhi when thousands of HP residents had been stranded in various parts of the country.

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Congress general secretary and Shimla rural MLA, Vikramaditya Singh, meanwhile, said the state is fortunate that its DGP Sanjay Kundu and other 28 police officials and personnel at police headquarters tested negative for coronavirus infection.

Had it not been so, Governor Bandaru Dattatraya, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh also would have been quarantined as Kundu met them after meeting the Delhi man, he added.

The Congress general secretary said the Delhi man had also met several persons at state secretariat during his visit to Shimla on June 1.

The Delhi man had returned to the national capital on June 1 itself and was tested positive for COVID-19 there on June 8. He died the next day.

The state police headquarters was sealed subsequently for two days and the DGP and 28 other officers had to home-quarantine themselves till they tested negative.

Rathore and Vikramaditya demanded stringent action against those who are responsible for allowing Kohli and the Delhi man to visit Himachal Pradesh from red zones without having them to undergo quarantine.

The state Congress president also asked the state government to clarify its stand on the issue and said it should not be allowed to recur in future to check the coronavirus spread in the state.

(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)