Priyanka Gandhi slams UP govt, says State responsible for deaths due to 'mystery fever'

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lashed out at the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government and held them responsible for deaths caused by a mystery viral fever in the state.

Vadra accused the UP government of not taking necessary steps to strengthen the health care system across the state. “The news of the death of 100 people, including children, due to viral fever in Firozabad, Mathura, Agra and several other places in Uttar Pradesh, is very worrying. The state government has still not taken any concrete steps to strengthen the health system,” the Congress leader said. 

Citing a media report that brought light to the mystery virus that has wreaked havoc in several districts in the state, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned, "Look at the condition of hospitals. Is this your Number 1 facility for treatment?" 

It should be mentioned here that the Yogi Adityanath-led government transferred the chief medical officer of Firozabad, where 41 people, comprising of mostly children, succumbed to what experts suggest could be either dengue or viral fever, on Wednesday. Health officials suspect that Firozabad and Mathura are quickly becoming hotspots for the spread of dengue.

What are the other issues mentioned by the Congress leader? 

Priyanka Gandhi also posted a series of tweets, on Thursday, targeting the BJP government at the Centre over the rising prices of cooking gas, petrol and diesel. She also pointed out that there had been no increase in the price of sugarcane procurement from farmers in the last three years, hinting that the welfare of farmers has not been addressed.

Her criticism started with the state government but slowly made the argument about the party as a whole. She said, “The BJP government is increasing the price of LPG cylinders every month, and petrol and diesel prices have been hiked 60 to 70 times in three-four months. But the sugarcane price for farmers has not increased for three years?" She used the hashtags of ‘mehnge din’ (expensive days) and ‘ganne ke daam badhao’ (raise the prices for sugarcane).