Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lanka Dinakar has slammed Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy over his letter to chief ministers over vaccination against COVID-19 and said it has "contradictions".
"The letter written by Andhra Pradesh CM to chief ministers is objectionable and can lead to state versus union tussle in the COVID-19 vaccination programme," he said.
Dinakar said in some states, vaccination drive for people in 18 to 44 age group is in progress as the state governments and private hospitals are directly procuring vaccines from vaccine producing companies as guided by the central government.
"Those states that are taking the precautionary measures and are paying the companies in advance to buy the vaccine are having a slightly higher percentage in vaccination drive."
He accused Reddy of trying to cover up failures of his administration.
Alleging that Reddy is trying to "widen the gap between the states and the central government," Dinakar said the Chief Minister urged other CMs to speak in one voice instead of coordinating with central government in the sensitive situation.
He added that the letter written by Reddy has several contradictions.
"While on one hand, the letter states that the states should have control in the vaccination drive without involvement of private hospitals, and on the other hand, the letter also states that the entire responsibility of vaccination drive is of the central government. Has YS Jagan Mohan Reddy noticed how many contradictions the letter holds?" he said.
Dinakar alleged that the Chief Minister has failed to pay advance for buying vaccines required for people in 18 to 44 years age group.
He said the Centre is working to provide vaccination to all people by December this year.
( With inputs from ANI )
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