VIJAYAWADA: Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu has claimed that the development works taken up during his regime came in handy during the crisis of coronavirus. The YSRC leaders had tried to destroy the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone in Visakhapatnam, but the Centre thwarted the plan and protected the AMTZ, which has now become the platform for manufacturing of ventilators and COVID-19 testing kits in the State, he pointed out.
Brandix is now making over 3 lakh personal protection equipment (PPE) and DWCRA women are making face masks on a large scale. The YSRC should recognise the priority of the development works at least now and desist from destroying the works done by the previous government, he demanded. Naidu, who discussed the issue with his party leaders during a teleconference and later wrote a letter to the Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, said the YSRC government is releasing false reports on virus transmission.
He described the official COVID-19 health bulletins as ‘bogus and full of wrong claims.” Meanwhile, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Botcha Satyanarayana slammed the ‘irresponsible and cheap’ remarks of Naidu over the State government’s efforts to combat Covid-19.
“Naidu alleged that test numbers in Visakhapatnam were being concealed because capital relocation would be put on hold if more cases are reported.
Is there any logic behind that allegation? Will Telangana capital be moved from Hyderabad as more cases are there or will capital be moved from Mumbai in Maharashtra? We are transparently and effectively working to contain the outbreak. Don’t we know how dangerous it is to downplay the pandemic or testing? The remarks of Naidu are cheap and irresponsible,” he fumed. He lashed out at the TDP chief for politicising every issue even during an emergency. “Are they unable to digest the fact that the State government has been successfully making concerted efforts to take care of its people? Naidu and his son don’t know what is happening in AP as they are sitting in Hyderabad,” he alleged.
Naidu sees mismatch in figures
“There is a mismatch between the figures mentioned in the Chief Minister’s dashboard and the details given by the health secretary. The total capacity of the seven labs in AP was only 990 tests per day as per the CM dashboard itself. Even the total 263 labs in the country could conduct just 27,256 tests yesterday, but AP is claiming that 8,622 tests were conducted in 12 hours,” Naidu pointed out.
The focus of the government was not on saving lives, but on holding local elections as early as possible after lifting the lockdown, Naidu alleged. Accusing the government of collecting donations forcefully, he said that it was not correct to force women’s groups to donate to the CM Relief Fund.