Odisha Minister writes to MHA alleging COVID-19 violations by BJP MP from Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi's videos of her birthday celebration dated October 8, 2020, came in for criticism from the Biju Janata Dal government in Odisha. In a letter addressed to MoS Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, Odisha Minister Dibya Shankar Mishra highlighted that the purported videos show her surrounded by hundreds of women who are neither wearing masks nor maintaining social distancing norms. He alleged that "utter disregard" was shown to COVID-19 guidelines issued under the National Disaster Management Act and the repeated appeals made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Maintaining that the BJP national spokesperson was facing at least three cases for violating novel coronavirus guidelines, Mishra claimed that such acts put people near her and the public at large at grave risk of life. Noting that Bhubaneswar is fighting a tough battle against COVID-19, the Odisha Minister contended that such "irresponsible behaviour" by a public representative demotivates COVID warriors. He mentioned that 109 people including 5 COVID warriors had lost their lives owing to the novel coronavirus in Bhubaneswar alone.

Mishra asked the MoS Home Affairs to bring Sarangi's repeated violations to the notice of the PM and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Additionally, he called upon Rai to advise the BJP MP to not endanger the lives of the people of Odisha's capital city. Currently, there are 26,184 active novel coronavirus cases in Odisha while 2,16,984 patients have been discharged and 974 deaths have been reported. 

Read: One Dead, Another Missing After Petrol Pump Fire Mishap In Odisha

Read: Odisha Govt Asks Collectors To Consider Possibility Of Opening Up Of Places Of Worship

COVID-19 crisis in India

Currently, there are 69,06,151 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 59,06,069 patients have recovered while 1,06,490 deaths have been reported. There are 8,93,592 active cases in the country. With 78,365 patients getting discharged in the last 24 hours, the recovery rate has soared to 85.52%. The gap between recovered and active cases rose to 50,12,477. 75% of the newly recovered cases are from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Delhi. 

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and Odisha account for 78% of the 70,496 cases reported in the last 24 hours. On the other hand, nearly 82% of the 964 new deaths were reported from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh. On Thursday, PM Modi reiterated that India can succeed in the fight against COVID-19 if people wear a mask, wash hands and follow social distancing. 

Read: Odisha Reports 3,144 New COVID-19 Cases, 16 Fresh Fatalities