Mumbai: A day after his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray exposing state government’s shortcomings in the corona management, Congress minister Balasaheb Thorat on Tuesday said he received a phone call from party president Sonia Gandhi on the present status of pandemic in Maharashtra.
Gandhi showered praise on MVA government’s pandemic handling. Gandhi’s move is important especially when the opposition BJP has been criticizing the Maha Vikas Aghadi government on the handling of Covid-19 crisis.
‘’@INCIndia President Sonia ji Gandhi phoned me today and took stock of the #COVID19 situation in state & preventive measures taken. Expressing satisfaction in the MVA govt’s handling of the crisis, she has instructed that the vaccination drive should be conducted expeditiously in the state,’’ Thorat tweeted.
Gandhi has emphasized the need for the political leadership to rise above differences and come together to fight the Covid calamity as a nation. Gandhi further said that fighting Covid is not a ‘’You versus Us’’ battle but it is ‘’Us versus Corona,’’ adding that the battle is, therefore, beyond political alignments.
Gandhi’s call is important when Maharashtra has been in news for galloping Covid-19 cases in the second wave, ongoing lockdown and shortages of oxygen, Remdesivir and vaccines faced by the state government for want of adequate supplies from the Centre.
As far as free vaccination for the citizens in the 18-44 age group is concerned, Thorat on Tuesday had said that Gandhi has already made a strong case for the same. Thorat pointed out that the Congress-ruled Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Punjab have already announced free vaccination. He added that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will accept the Congress party’s demand for free vaccination for citizens from 18-44 age group beginning May 1.
