Mumbai: Blitzkrieg of news on the handling of Covid19 pandemic, comments and taunts on various media platforms is incessant, and keeps the state unit of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on defensive these days. Besides the pandemic, the economic crisis and issues concerning the state governments tackling one of the worst crises in recent time, the party which had a very tiny opposition to face at the centre, now seems tottering to face the onslaught. And the state unit has an onerous task to defend.
In Maharashtra particularly, the Maha Vikas Aghadi has been able to set a narrative that the state is being neglected by the Centre because the BJP could not see its government coming to power. Though the BJP feels it’s a wrong narrative, arguments are at galore on social media platforms.
The party gets a few chances to launch counter-attacks and the most notable among them were when controversial police officer Sachin Vaze was nabbed by the National Investigative Agency in SUV-laden explosives case and murder of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiren.
But the state unit is not ready to accept it. Chief spokesman of the state unit Keshav Upadhye says every attempt to set a wrong narrative is fought jointly. Our top leaders such as state chief Chandrakant Patil, leaders of opposition Devendra Fadnavis and Pravin Darekar along with media department members react as soon as wrong information is spread.
According to him, the basic issue is that we are a lone party in the opposition taking on the three-party government. Their joint efforts, that comprise top ranking leaders of three parties appear a bit loud but with wrong information. You can check the numbers shared by us that say the highest number of Remedesivir injections, significant share from PM Cares and even vaccines have been made available to Maharashtra. This government in fact failed to utilize the resources mainly due to the botched efforts at the government and administrative level.
About the debates on social media platforms, the spokesman says the Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders and their media teams prefer to debate on other states. Let the other states handle their issues as per their capacity and acumen. But the fact is the Central government has provided maximum support to Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Be it Kumbha Mela, elections in five states or other issues that have been used for targeting the BJP, a fact is that Maharashtra has registered over 50 per cent cases compared to other states. And in recent times, the state government is making every possible demand for equipment to fight the pandemic. These issues are highlighted by the state unit from time to time, says Upadhye.
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