Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, sent a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday, pleading with him to send a team of medical professionals and public health specialists to help what he called a “inefficient state government” deal with the rise in dengue cases and alleviate people’s suffering.
The BJP politician claimed in the letter, a copy of which he posted on Twitter, that the financial crisis facing the state government—
which is occupied with concealing data on the vector-borne disease—is to blame for the situation’s deterioration.
“The dengue situation in West Bengal has spiralled out of control due to an inefficient state government. In a way, the bankruptcy the state government is facing has started to affect public health and has resulted in the loss of lives. It’s alarming,” he said.
“At a time when you are choking in the national capital, the people of West Bengal are tormented by mosquitoes. Dengue has taken West Bengal in its grip for the past three months, with the cases on the rise in several parts of the state. The worst-affected areas are Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Hooghly and Howrah.”
The Nandigram BJP MLA further urged for an investigation into the disease-related data provided by the state administration and for the Center to punish those responsible.
Over 5,000 people in Bengal have tested positive for dengue in the past week, with the majority of cases coming from the North 24 Parganas area, according to a health official.
Adhikari was criticised by the Trinamool Congress for writing to the Union Health Ministry while asserting that the state administration had already taken all necessary measures to contain the dengue outbreak.
“Suvendu Adhikari intends to tarnish the state’s image. Instead, he should write to the union minister, requesting him to release funds for the state that the Centre has withheld,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
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