The Centre is to blame for not stopping flights from international countries to Maharashtra, which led to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai during the initial phase of the coronavirus crisis, alleged state Cabinet Minister Nitin Raut on Tuesday.
"People kept coming in through flights from foreign countries and spread Corona in Mumbai. Why did the government not stop the flights then? They even kept the Parliament running," Raut said during a press conference held over video conferencing here.
He further said that the Centre was also guilty of not paying heed to the warning issued by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on February 12.
"On January 31 the first COVID-19 patient was found in the country, on February 12, Rahul Gandhi had said that we would have to face an epidemic, but the Centre did not pay heed as they do not treat anyone in the opposition as their own," he added.
The Maharashtra Cabinet Minister further targeted the BJP-led Centre over the alleged high COVID-19 fatality rate in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
"It is being said that the fatality rate in Mumbai is the highest, but if you look at the fatality rate in Gujarat's Ahmedabad then it is 6.7 per cent while in Mumbai it is 2.7 per cent. It means that the Gujarat model which BJP presents is in need of improvement," Raut said.
He also said that the Centre could have given a couple of days notice ahead of announcing the lockdown, which would have greatly reduced the troubles faced by the migrant workers during the two-month phase.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the nationwide lockdown on May 24, it had later been extended twice, to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. The extended lockdown comes to an end on May 31.
( With inputs from ANI )