THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala took a dig at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying he is happy to know that the latter has realised at least now that the Covid fight is a marathon, not a 100-metre race.
“The LDF government has become a dismal failure in combating the Covid-19 pandemic. In a way, I’m happy that finally Pinarayi has admitted that combating the pandemic is not like winning a 100-metre race. He claimed that he had won the cup even before the race began. Now he has realised his folly and instead started taking his frustration out on the Opposition which won’t be tolerated,” Chennithala said here.
On the surge in the number of Covid cases in the state, Chennithala said “the current recovery rate of 42.9% and the huge increase in the number of patients” is a matter of grave concern.Chennithala also attacked the chief minister by pointing out the “mismatch” between the government claims about infrastructureand and the reality.
Pointing out the mismatch between the government claims and reality, Chennithala said the Pinarayi had earlier announced that infrastructure including 49,702 beds in wards, 1,269 ICU beds and over 800 ventilators.However, in reality, when the number of patients touched 6,000, the hospitals became overburdened.
He also alleged that Chief Secretary Viswas Mehta’s claim of having lost the CCTV footage at the Secretariat in lightning is a deliberate attempt to destroy evidence in the gold smuggling case before the NIA could inspect it.
Chennithala claimed that the chief secretary had made illegal appointments in the Secretariat through KINFRA via a recruitment agency, Mint. Chennithala said the LDF government’s decision to postpone the one-day session of the Assembly to pass the finance bill is because they want to run away from the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition.