Owaisi says the Covid death toll is much higher than official projections

HYDERABAD: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has alleged that the Narendra Modi government botched up the actual number of Covid-19 casualties and was “hiding the reality.” He also said, on the other side, the Hindutva elements continue perpetrating heinous acts on Muslims even in these critical times of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to the media, Owaisi said that as per the Economist magazine 20 lakh people had died in the second wave. The Union health ministry had in its rebuttal portrayed the claim as speculative.

Owaisi alleged that states are not following the guidelines of the ICMR and furnishing daily district-wise data. When the High Court raised the issue, the Bihar government revised the figures overnight and added 3,000 deaths to its list. Every epidemiological module and expert in the country has claimed that the toll is five to six times higher than the shown figure, he said.

“The government has no concern about the deaths. It is aloof. The number of insurance claims and death certificates issued during the second wave debunked the government’s claim. The government had not made preparations for the second wave, delayed in making the orders for the vaccines. The supply process for the vaccination was wrong. To hide its failures, the BJP government is not accepting these factual figures,” the AIMIM leader said.

On vaccines, he asked: “Why have you started administering Covaxin without peer-reviewed scientific data? The data is still being compiled. Why has AYUSH issued a certificate to Coronil if you do not have any reliable data on this.”

Refuting the claims that the BJP and the NDA are becoming stronger, he said the Akali Dal and other parties are leaving the NDA. One of its allies has contested against the BJP in Bihar. What is the benefit of strengthening the NDA if the poor are dying? Bodies of the dead were floating in the Ganges.

Owaisi asked the Centre as to when the vaccine will be given free. “There is a need for 30 crore vaccine doses in July for frontline warriors and people above 45 years. The government has assured the Supreme Court in May that it will provide 13.20crore. Is Modi a magician who can provide an additional 17 crore vaccines with the wave of a wand? Three months are required to produce the vaccine. Whether 213 crore of vaccines will be available by December is a big question, he said.

Owaisi claimed that in the Nagarjunasagar bypoll, the BJP failed to save its security deposit. It lost in the Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Mahbubnagar MLC elections. In Nalgonda, Warangal and Khammam MLC elections for graduate constituencies, the BJP moved to the fourth place, he said.