Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan slams Kamal Nath over 'coronavirus' remarks
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday wondered whether state Congress president Kamal Nath's alleged remarks on the spread of coronavirus in India amounted to sedition.
"Will this (statement) not hurt the country's respect and does this not amount to sedition? Chouhan asked in a series of tweets and also spoke to reporters.
Nath, the Opposition leader, on Friday said in a press conference, "Indians in the world have become synonymous with corona and our 'Mera Bharat' has turned into COVID (epicentre)".
Questioning the number of COVID-19 fatalities "projected by India", Nath had claimed that in reality, 1,02,002 COVID-19 patients had died in Madhya Pradesh in the March-April period.
"We are working day in and day out to combat COVID -19 and I hoped that all political parties would be onboard given this national crisis. But I am deeply saddened that former MP chief minister Kamal Nathji was destroying the morale of the country and the state (with his remarks)," Chouhan said.
"Does using words like, 'Mera Bharat COVID', 'Indian Corona' suit Congress? Won't the morale of Indians living in other countries dip with such statements? Won't it hurt the country's respect? Does such a statement not amount to sedition? he asked.
Chouhan said the government was working hard in a bid to free the state from coronavirus but "Kamal Nath is looking for an opportunity to do politics on deaths".
As of Saturday, Madhya Pradesh's COVID-19 tally stood at 7,60,963 and the overall death was 7,483, as per the state health department.