Lucknow, May 9 (PTI) Opposition Congress and Samajwadi Party on Sunday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of making false claims about controlling the COVID-19 situation in the state and "manipulating data".
They alleged that the administrative machinery and health services in the state are "completely paralysed" and the pandemic is spreading fast in villages as migrants returning home are not being tested.
For days now, Uttar Pradesh has figured among the 10 biggest contributors to India's COVID-19 tally. According to an official statement, the state recorded 23,333 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday that pushed its tally to 15,03,490 while 296 more fatalities took the death toll to 15,464.
Every day, hundreds of COVID-19 deaths are being reported in Uttar Pradesh and most of them are due to the shortage of oxygen or medicines, state Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said in a statement.
This is frightening, but more frightening is the "manipulation of figures" by the government. But those who are losing their near and dear ones are exposing the government's claims, he said.
The state government is trying to act like an ostrich by burying its head in the sand, he added.
Citing official data, Lallu said in the week starting April 24, 66 COVID-19 deaths were reported from Kanpur but according to data collected from crematoria, 462 people were cremated.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said statements made by the Uttar Pradesh government claiming that coronavirus has been controlled in the state can prove to be more fatal than the pandemic.
Coronavirus is spreading fast in villages. Labourers reaching their villages are not being tested. The administrative machinery and health services are "completely paralysed", he claimed.
Yadav further claimed that BJP MLAs and MPs are now openly expressing their "anger" over the functioning of the state government.
"In Bareilly, Union minister, MP and MLAs have conveyed the reality to the chief minister," he said.
The "bitter truth" is that the state is drowning in gloom due to deaths while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is busy undertaking air trips, he added.
Union minister Santosh Gangwar has complained to Adityanath about COVID-19 management in Bareilly, saying officials don't take calls and government health centres send back patients for "referrals" from the district hospital.
The Union Labour minister, in a letter that was handed over to Adityanath during his visit to Bareilly on Saturday, has also complained about the "big shortage" of empty oxygen cylinders and the high prices of medical equipment in his Lok Sabha constituency.
