NEW DELHI: The Delhi units of the BJP and the Congress hit out at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday and demanded his resignation over a Supreme Court-appointed audit panel report that said his government exaggerated its oxygen requirement during the second wave of COVID-19.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, however, categorically denied the existence of such a report.
The Delhi BJP accused the chief minister of criminal negligence and demanded that he should resign.
"The deaths of innocent people during corona's second wave due to pretended oxygen shortage shown by the Delhi government are the sole responsibility of Arvind Kejriwal's government and therefore he should resign," Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said.
The kind of criminal negligence that was committed by the Kejriwal government during the pandemic's second wave is simply "unpardonable", he added.
"The Kejriwal government is responsible for the loss of thousands of lives, and he should be arrested for the same.
Not only should he resign but a criminal case should also be filed against him and his ministers," the BJP leader said.
The Centre supplied more oxygen to Delhi than its actual requirement but due to the mismanagement by the city government, there were instances when some places reported only 48 hours' oxygen left in stock, while somewhere else, it was just for 48 minutes, he claimed.
"This led to a panic situation, causing unavoidable deaths," Gupta said.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Anil Chaudhury also targeted the chief minister.
"It is clear from the 'Oxygen Audit Committee report' that due to Kejriwal, the supply of 12 other states in the country was affected. The lack of storage and tankers in Delhi and the fault of some private hospitals led to the oxygen crisis. 'People died because of Kejriwal.' Killer chief minister leave the chair," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Former Delhi minister Dr Narendra Nath and ex-MLA Adarsh Shastri said that in light of the "shocking" findings, "an FIR should be filed and the Delhi government dismissed for giving out misleading information to create an oxygen scare, and total mismanagement of the pandemic".
They said even though the Delhi government got four times more oxygen than its actual requirement, patients died due to non-availability of the life saving gas.
Delhi's high demand also deprived other states of the much-needed oxygen supply which could have saved many lives there had they received enough stock of the gas, Nath and Shastri added.
Responding to the accusations, Kejriwal on Friday said his only "crime" was that he "fought for the breath of two crore people" of Delhi.
His deputy Manish Sisodia claimed that no such report has been approved by the committee members.
He alleged that the "bogus" and "misleading" report has been"cooked up" at BJP's office and submitted by the Centre in the apex court.
"The real truth about this report is that it does not exist. This alleged report which is being used by BJP leaders to senselessly slam CM Arvind Kejriwal does not exist. It is bogus and misleading. The Bhartiya Janata Party is lying and shirking accountability," Sisodia alleged.
Several Union ministers, including Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman, took to Twitter to hit out at the Delhi government over the report.
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BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also slammed the Delhi government, terming it to be a "heinous crime".
The Delhi units of both the BJP and the Congress demanded the resignation of Kejriwal, saying that due to "exaggerated demand of oxygen" by his government, supply of the live-saving gas to 12 other states was affected.
Delhi was hit severely by a brutal second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in April and May, claiming a massive number of lives daily, with a shortage in oxygen supply at various city hospitals adding to the woes.
The sub-group constituted by the Supreme Court to audit oxygen consumption in hospitals in the national capital during the second wave of COVID-19 said the Delhi government "exaggerated" the consumption of oxygen and made a claim of 1,140 MT, four times higher than the formula for bed capacity requirement of 289 MT.
The five-member panel headed by AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria said the Delhi government had made the claims for allocation of 700 MT oxygen on April 30 of medical grade oxygen using a "wrong formula".
Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal said his only "crime" was that he "fought for the breath of two crore people".
"My crime -- I fought for the breath of my two crore people. When you were doing an election rally, I was awake all night arranging for oxygen. I fought, pleaded to get oxygen for people."
"People have lost their loved ones due to lack of oxygen. Don't call them liars, they are feeling so bad," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
Dismissing the existence of the report at a press briefing, Sisodia said, "Upon speaking to members of this Oxygen Audit Committee, the truth came out.
Members of this committee have informed the Delhi government that no such report has been approved, signed or released.
"When no such report has been approved by the Oxygen Audit Committee, then which report is being used by the BJP to yet again malign the Delhi government? Where has this report come from?" "The real truth about this report is that it does not exist.
It is bogus and misleading.
It is absolutely shameful and despicable that BJP leaders, sitting at their party headquarters, cooked up some misleading facts and fabricated an alleged report to shift accountability from themselves," he alleged.
Union ministers and senior BJP leaders hit out at the Delhi government citing the report.
Railways Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal said on Twitter, "Hope accountability is fixed for disrupting oxygen supply across India", citing the SC-appointed oxygen audit committee's report.
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar alleged that due to Delhi government, other states had to face the loss during the second wave of COVID-19, adding that someone should learn from the AAP dispensation on how to make noise.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also tweeted: "actual oxygen consumption claimed by the Delhi government was four times higher than the calculated consumption as per the formula based on bed capacity. National Capital Territory of Delhi had surplus oxygen affecting supply to other states."
Addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited the SC-appointed panel report to note that the Delhi government had demanded 1,140 MT of the life-saving gas during the peak of the second wave even though it could utilise 209 MT.