Does govt exist or is circus going on? Rajnath slams Maharashtra govt

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday (June 8) slammed the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government over its handling of the COVID-19 situation, saying the current situation in the state looks like a circus is going on instead of governance.

Singh also backed actor Sonu Sood for his work for stranded migrant workers and questioned the state governments criticism of the actor.

“It looks like the situation in Maharashtra is more of a circus than a government. It is highly unfortunate to see state crawling despite having a strong leadership of NCP chief Sharad Pawar,” Singh said while addressing a virtual rally of BJP workers from Maharashtra.

“The greed for power has prevailed over political alliance and commitments,” Singh said in an oblique reference to the Shiv Sena, which had parted ways with the BJP post assembly elections in 2019.

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“I wonder whether any government exists in Maharashtra when I see a coronavirus patient waiting for ambulance for more than 16 hours,” he said.

He also criticised the Sena which had on Sunday said that Sood was doing the BJP’s bidding to show the state government in poor light.

“Instead of lauding his work, the government has criticised actor Sonu Sood for his efforts to send migrant workers back home. The Maharashtra government should learn from UP and Karnataka on how to contain coronavirus spread,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Sood met CM Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence Matoshree in suburban Mumbai, gaining the chief minister’s appreciation over the actor’s initiative to arrange buses and chartered flights for sending migrant workers stranded in Mumbai back to their native places.

Sena MP Sanjay Raut had wondered whether the BJP propped up the Bollywood actor to “offer help” to migrant workers from north India stranded in Maharashtra amidst the lockdown, with the political motive to show the Uddhav Thackeray government in poor light.

Related news: BJP put social worker mask on Sonu Sood: Sena on helping migrants

In his weekly column Rokhthok in Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Sunday, Raut questioned the sudden rise of “Mahatma” Sood on the social scene of Maharashtra during the lockdown.

Raut also referred to a “sting operation” against Sood ahead of the 2019 general elections, saying he had agreed to promote the BJP-led government at various platforms through his official social media accounts.

(With inputs from agencies)