TMC leaders target BJP, retweet photo of dead COVID-19 patient on Ahmedabad street

Two senior TMC leaders on Sunday retweeted a post shared by Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani about the alleged discovery of the body of a coronavirus patient on street in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, ruled by the BJP

The development comes amid the ongoing war of words between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and the alleged suppression of death figures by the West Bengal government. TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee, who had earlier questioned centre’s silence on the COVID-19 situation in Gujarat, shared Mevani's tweet and an accompanying picture. The senior minister in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet said in the tweet: "The ugly face of Gujarat model could no longer be hidden. No wonder, India has fallen 10 ranks in Democracy Index in @BJP4India's rule." Chief national spokesperson of TMC Derek O'Brien too retweeted Mevani's post but did not make any comment. In a tweet posted on Sunday, Mevani said: "Bloody what the hell is going on? Gunawant Makwana, a 70-year-old Covid-19 patient was admitted at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on 10th May and now his body is found on the street! Yes, bloody on the street! Mr. Rupani takes moral responsibility and step down. This is just criminal." When contacted, Chatterjee told PTI: "This incident has unmasked and exposed BJP. I have nothing else to say." The two parties are at loggerheads over several issues like alleged fudging of actual number of coronavirus positive cases by the West Bengal government, alleged disparities over the total number of deaths due to the contagion, and return of migrant laborers by train. The TMC had alleged BJP West Bengal unit was doing cheap politics even during a pandemic like coronavirus when the state is singlehandedly fighting to contain the spread and strengthening state machinery. A senior BJP leader said as the TMC's gameplan to hide the actual alarming scenario about the spread of COVID-19 in Bengal fell flat, the ruling party is resorting to diversionary tactics and spreading falsehood in their tweets. "Many bodies were disposed of without the knowledge of their family members by the Bengal government which tried to suppress real death figures for days. What about that?," the leader said, adding that the authenticity of the purported picture in the tweet by Mevani was not proved.

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