As the city of Hyderabad fights a rising Covid-19 graph, state CM K. Chandrashekhar Rao is facing flak for “confining himself to his farmhouse away from the state capital.” The Telangana CM is allegedly confined to his farmhouse for a week and despite announcing a cabinet meeting on 28 June, he has not carried out any meeting. The meeting was called for discussing the future course of action of the lockdown.
On the political front, state Home Minister Mohamood Ali, a few MLAs and Congress leaders in Telangana have tested positive for Covid-19.
Telangana PCC senior leader and treasurer Guduru Narayana Reddy who has recovered from Covid-19 recently said, “The CM completely failed in curbing Covid-19 in the state. He is enjoying a vacation in farm house while the entire state struggles with coronavirus. There are no beds for poor people in government-run hospitals and private hospitals are very expensive.”
“We demand that the CM wakes from his slumber and act on increasing the hospital beds in the state, especially in the Greater Hyderabad area. There has been steep increase in the infection rate,” BJP spokesman Krishna Sagar Rao told The Daily Guardian. He added, “There are over 1,000 Covid-19 positive cases every day and the BJP demands admission of Covid-19 positive patients into TIMS with immediate effect. There is a complete breakdown of the health infrastructure and there are no beds available in either private or government hospitals. The CM should immediately take charge and provide better care to the people.”
The CM’s absence from the forefront has given rise to rumours of him being tested positive for Covid-19. An editor of Hyderabad based daily newspaper Venkateswara Rao was booked for falsely publishing the reports of CM being Covid-19 positive.
When The Daily Guardian contacted an official under his team, he said, “KCR is perfectly fine. He is taking charge of everything from his farmhouse and all the concerned officials are with him.”
Meanwhile the KCR government has mandated Covid-19 testing for all employees working with him.