No state has reported any death due to shortage of oxygen: BJP

New Delhi: Under attack from the Congress and other opposition parties over the government's reply in Parliament that no death was reported due to oxygen shortage, the BJP on Wednesday said that no state government has sent any data on deaths due to lack of oxygen.

The saffron party also slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the opposition parties for doing politics over Covid deaths. Addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "No state has sent any data on deaths due to shortage of oxygen. No state has reported any death due to lack of oxygen."

Referring to Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar's reply in the Rajya Sabha, Patra said "The minister categorically said that health is a state subject, the Centre only collects data sent by states and there are guidelines issued for reporting deaths. The states and Union Territories provide the data of Covid cases and deaths to the Centre on a regular basis. Not a single state or UT, however, in their report mentioned any death due to shortage of oxygen," Patra said.

Patra slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Aam Aadmi Party for creating confusion over the sensitive issue of Covid deaths. "It was condemnable that at a time when everyone should unite to win the battle against coronavirus disease, some political leaders are playing dirty politics," he said.

Calling the Congress leader a Twitter troll, Patra said, "Whether it is a pandemic or issue of vaccine, he lied and spread confusion on every topic. This is what Rahul Gandhi has done while acting as a Twitter troll." Referring to the affidavits of the Delhi and Maharashtra governments, Patra said both the administrations informed the high courts that not a single death was a result of shortage of oxygen.