Congress leader blames Namaste Trump event for COVID outbreak in Gujarat

Gujarat Congress chief AmitChavda claimed in the state Assembly that the Vijay Rupanigovernment had ignored coronavirus outbreak warnings from theWHO as well as the Centre and had gone ahead with the megaevent welcoming then United States President Donald Trumphere.

The event, organised in the stadium in Motera here,was held on February 24 last year and over a lakh peopleattended.

“Following the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the WorldHealth Organization had declared a health emergency on January30 last year and had issued warnings to all countries. TheUnion government asked states not to hold large gatherings.

Despite this, the Gujarat government organised Namaste Trump,”Chavda said in the Assembly on Saturday.

He was speaking on the motion of thanks after GovernorAcharya Devvrats address in the House.

“When the government was supposed to warn the peopleabout the outbreak, it went ahead and organised an event likeNamaste Trump to satisfy the partys political ambitions,”Chavda, MLA from Anklav in Anand district, alleged.

Refuting the allegations, Gujarat BJP spokespersonYamal Vyas said, “There is no connection between the NamasteTrump event and the spread of the virus. While the event wasorganized in February, the coronavirus-induced lockdown wasimposed in March.” Gujarat reported its first set of COVID-19 cases, inRajkot and Surat, on March 20, and, as on Saturday, has aninfection tally of 2,72,811, including 4,414 deaths.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)