Harsha Vardhan's exit proves Centre's failure on Covid front: DK Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Commenting onUnion Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, State Congress president DK Shivakumar said that the exit of Dr Harsh Vardhan as Union Health Minister, was a testimony to the government's mismanagement of Covid.

"People have suffered a lot during Corona in our State. At the same time the price hikes have added to the woes of the people. If the price of petrol and diesel goes up, the price of all other things will go up. We have brought this issue to the attention of the government and demanded that the tax be reduced. In the past, we have demanded that fuel prices should be fixed based on crude oil prices," he added.

He stated that the cases of corruption against the ministers should be investigated. Shivakumar accused the government of trying to close corruption cases against ministers. He cited corruption case against Chief Minister B.S Yediyurappa and sex-for-job scandal involving Ramesh Jarkiholi as example.

He denied any factions within the Congress. "Displacing families of fishermen from the coastal areas of Tonka to set up a private commercial port is inhuman. Does BJP have any answer to the wailing mother whose son committed suicide after losing his home? BJP cannot destroy the livelihood of our fishing community," he said while talking about the problems faced by the fishermen in coastal Karnataka.

Shivakumar also accused the government of having a biased approach in the distribution of vaccine doses. "It is unfair to the State in distribution of vaccine. See how much vaccine has gone to Gujarat and how much has been given to Karnataka. Here the chief minister and health minister are lying. The state has been requesting for 1.50 lakh vaccine for a month and the Center is giving only 45 thousand. Government has completely failed to vaccinate people," he alleged.