LUCKNOW: Even as the Gorakhpur hospital tragedy turned a week old, the political slanging match was far from over. Uttar Pradesh chief minister (CM) on Saturday made a veiled attack on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi saying that Gorakhpur should not be allowed to serve as the picnic spot for opposition leaders.
Adityanath took a jibe jointly at Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav respectively while flagging off "Swachh Uttar Pradesh, Swasthya Uttar Pradesh" campaign. The CM said: “Any ‘Yuvraj’ sitting in Delhi or a ‘shazada’ sitting in Lucknow cannot feel the importance of Swachchhta Abhiyan (cleanliness drive).” He added that there was no reason why they should be permitted to turn Gorakhpur into their picnic spot.
Blaming the previous SP and BSP regimes for the rickety medical infrastructure of the state, Adityanath stated, “Governments in last 12-15 years have ruined institutions in UP for selfish motives by institutionalising corruption. They kept people deprived of facilities."
The comments came after Gandhi visited the victims’ families in Gorakhpur on Saturday. He squarely blamed the state government for the tragedy. Accompanied by former union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, UPCC chief Raj Babbar and other party leaders, Gandhi advised the chief minister to take action against those responsible for BRD Medical college deaths instead of covering up the tragedy.
He said, “I was told by the families who lost their kids that oxygen disruption was the main reason for the tragedy and the state government’s carelessness is responsible for it.”