The BJP continued to corner Congress-led governments in Punjab and Rajasthan over “vaccine profiteering” and “wastage” of vaccines. The ruling party at the Centre blamed the State governments of not taking any action against the guilty.

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who addressed a press conference here on Saturday from the BJP headquarters, said that the Amarinder Singh government’s decision to withdraw the controversial order allowing sale of vaccines from government’s stocks to private hospitals proved that there was something “fishy” in the matter.

He claimed that, on the one hand, Congress leaders such as Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are criticising the Centre’s vaccine policy, but on the other hand, the Punjab government was making profits to the tune of ₹38 crore by selling vaccines to private hospitals.

“Large doses of vaccines have been found dumped in Rajasthan, another Congress-ruled State. Government profiteering should stop. There should be a probe to bring facts in the public domain,” Puri added, and urged the Congress to ensure that heads will roll.

‘Furnish details’

He asked the Punjab government to furnish details of the deal with private hospitals. “The State government procured Covishield vaccines for ₹412 per dose but sold it to private hospitals for ₹1,000 and they, in turn, charged ₹1,560 from the people. Two private hospitals in Mohali charged people ₹3,000 and ₹3,200,” he said.

He said the Congress is busy with internal problems between Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu. He asked the party to focus on issues of people.

comment COMMENT NOW