New Delhi: With pressure mounting on the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government to appoint cabinet ministers amid the coronavirus pandemic, the state BJP has stepped in and appointed a task force to deal with the crisis.
The task force will be headed by state BJP president and MP, V.D. Sharma, and includes former health minister Tulsi Silawat, a Jyotiaraditya Scindia loyalist who along with 21 other MLAs had rebelled against the Kamal Nath-led Congress government leading to its fall. He had later joined the BJP along with other Congress MLAs.
The move to form a task force came Monday after the opposition slammed the BJP government, with Congress state chief Kamal Nath accusing it of delaying action to tackle the coronavirus pandemic as it concentrated on toppling his government.
The state is also seeing a serious surge in coronavirus cases, with Indore emerging as one of the hotspots in the country. While it has 604 active Covid-19 cases, as of Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh has had 43 deaths — the second highest in the country after Maharashtra.
Officials at Indore told ThePrint that of the 43 deaths, 32 are from the city alone.
Also read: MP’s growing Covid-19 crisis: Cases rising, govt paralysed after top officials test positive
Task force to coordinate with state government
The newly-appointed task force will carry out a regular review and coordination with the state government. The 11-member task force also includes Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Narottam Mishra, MP Rakesh Singh among others.
“The situation in the state has become quite bad as the Kamal Nath government didn’t take action on time. Our CM held his first meeting on the very day he was appointed,” a senior BJP leader said. “But some changes were required to improve the situation and this task force, which has the former health minister and other senior BJP leaders, will help coordinate with the government so that things improve faster.”
According to sources, the state BJP unit is of the view that the party workers can help the government in controlling the pandemic and such coordination is all the more crucial in the absence of a cabinet.
From the second week of March, Madhya Pradesh was in political turmoil as 22 MLAs had rebelled against the Congress government, leading to its downfall.
Clamour for cabinet even in BJP
Even as a task force has been created, a section in the Madhya Pradesh BJP is still of the view that a few ministers, especially for the health and public works department, should be appointed to aid Chouhan and help strategise better.
“There are talks that a few ministers should be appointed to help the CM. He is doing everything alone. Not having a health minister during such a pandemic is unheard of,” said a senior state BJP leader. “Earlier, there was talk that a few ministers might be appointed after 15 April. But it is the central leadership that has to take the call.”
Chouhan took oath on 23 March, a day before PM Modi announced a 21-day lockdown. Since then he has been acting as the one-man cabinet.
When asked to comment on cabinet expansion, Chouhan said: “From 23 onwards we were busy in the coronavirus battle and a cautious decision was taken by the party that we need to win the fight against Covid-19 and the cabinet expansion will be taken after a few days. On 14 April one phase of lockdown will get over and depending on the circumstances we will consult with the party and take a call”.
Also read: Palaniswami-led Tamil Nadu govt springs surprise with stellar Covid-19 crisis management
Testing to be increased
The state government has decided to increase testing to 5,000 samples a day from the current 1,050.
Confirming the move, P. Narahari, IAS, secretary, Public Relations Department, Madhya Pradesh government, told ThePrint: “All efforts are being made to do large-scale testing. While 2,000 samples are being collected daily, the testing facility is further being upgraded from 1,050 samples per day to 5000 per day”.
The government had also sent 1,700 samples by air to Delhi on Sunday.
“We have limited testing facilities, and everything is being used. The chief minister had taken up the matter with the PMO who suggested that a lab facility in Noida has the capacity to check 1300 samples in a few hours so it was decided to send the samples through air,” said another senior Madhya Pradesh government official.
Also read: Shivraj Singh Chouhan is doing it all alone, from running a state to tackling Covid-19
It’s an absolute shame that the BJP indulged in toppling an elected government. This took place even as Covid- 19 was reaching India.
With agrarian distress, unemployment and price rise, I won’t be surprised if all the 22 Rebel Mla’s are defeated badly. They deserve it .