JAIPUR: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has responded to the criticism over Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi not visiting Kota during her trip to Jaipur on a private visit on Friday. Without naming Priyanka, who was slammed by BSP Chief Mayawati for not visiting the families of infants who died in a Kota hospital in Congress-ruled Rajasthan, Gehlot has argued that visiting mourning families who have lost newborns only adds to the burden of the grieving families.
Gehlot himself has also been attacked by the opposition for not visiting the Kota hospital where 110 infants have died since December.
On the accusations that the Chief minister did not visit Kota, Gehlot said : "When an infant dies, the parents are worst-affected and overcome with sadness, especially the mother who carries the child for many months. When all the family members are in a state of shock , there is no point in going to mourn them. It has never happened that we go to their homes and mourn as there is no meaning to it and adds to the pain of the family. The politics being played around the entire episode is very unfortunate. "
On Saturday, without naming Priyanka Gandhi, Mayawati had targeted her for not visiting the Kota hospital. Later, even BJP state President Satish Poonia has questioned why Priyanka skipped a trip to Kota despite coming to Jaipur for the wedding in a Congress leader’s family.
Gehlot’s remarks now are seen as a defence of both his own and Priyanka Gandhi’s inability to visit Kota. Since December 2019, over 110 children have died at the JK Lon hospital in Kota.