KOLKATA: Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday urged Union health ministry to rush a team of experts to the state amid reports that a large number of children in the its northern districts are down with flu-like symptoms.
In a jibe at the administration, the BJP MLA from Nandigram also said that officials seemed occupied with the by-election in Bhabanipur, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is a contestant.
"WB administration seems to be occupied with Bhabanipur by election, as it's their priority.
So I'd urge Hon'ble Union Health Minister @mansukhmandviya ji to immediately despatch a Central team of experts to WB, to assist & aid the WB Health Dept in order to save our children (sic), he tweeted.
The former state minister, who joined the BJP last December, also urged the health secretary to take note of the disturbing news arriving from the northern districts, where hundreds of children have been admitted to hospitals with fever dysentery.
"I urge WB Health Secretary to kindly take note of the distressing news coming from North Bengal, where more than 750 children have been admitted in hospitals for high fever & undetected flu like symptoms.
Please initiate measures at the earliest as 6 infants have died already," he wrote on the microblogging site.
Reacting to Adhikari's assertions, TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh claimed that the BJP leader was trying to politicise the matter.
"He is trying to pass the blame on the state health department, which is fully aware of the situation and doing the needful," Ghosh alleged.