Opposition puts Yogi govt on the back foot on UP children’s deaths

The catastrophe that struck BRD Medical College of Gorakhpur where 63 children diedin two days has turned out to be a battleground for political parties trying to score brownie points with the Opposition blaming Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The BJP spokesman, also the state Health Minister, is, quite comically, threatening to “expose” previous governments.

The media space has been filled within no time with claims and counter-claims as to who is responsible for the death of the children. Some asked as to why the payment to the agency which is responsible for oxygen supply was delayed while others questioned if this is happening in Gorakhpur, the city Yogi belongs to, one can understand what is happening in other parts of the state.

“It is not death of children. It is blatant murder of innocent lives,” SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhry said. Former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav held the Yogi government responsible for the catastrophe and demanded that the government pays a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to each of the victims’ families.

BJP did not hold its punches back too as Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, who is also the government spokesman, said: “This is not the time to do politics. But if Opposition starts raising questions then we will ask as to why this company was selected to supply oxygen. Whose company is this and why people were appointed on ad hoc basis.”

Singh did not say exactly who owns Pushpa sales Firm, the Lucknow-based company which supplies Oxygen to BRD Medical college. But sources said it belonged to a Samajwadi party leader close to Akhilesh Yadav.

The Firm used to supply Oxygen cylinders but the hospital had not cleared dues which had gone up to Rs 68 lakh. Two days back, the company had informed the hospital administration that it would not be able to supply oxygen unless the dues were cleared.

Dr RN Singh, a paediatrician in Gorakhpur, said that a human tragedy has taken the shape of a political debate. The Opposition is blaming Yogi but the fact is that during his last visit to BRD College on July 9, the CM had a meeting with the doctors and had asked them about the problems they were facing. No one told him about the delay in clearing payment for oxygen.

“If doctors had told him, the CM would have cleared Rs 68 lakh in minutes,” Dr Singh said.

In this melee, however, the voices of those who lost their children have died down. “My son died because this hospital does not have oxygen. They even did not tell us the truth. We would have taken my son to a private hospital,” Suresh Chandra, whose 7-year-old son died on Friday morning said.

“Ab rajniti ho rahi hai bachcho ki laash pe. (Politics is done on the dead bodies of children),” he said.

Some tweets since the tragedy broke out:

Writer, story teller and radio jockey Neelesh Misra tweeted:

Senior journalist Shekhar Gupta wrote:

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi expressed grief and shock over the incident:

Congress leader Manish Tiwari tweeted: