Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Friday criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for nominating city-based businessman Sushil Gupta as party’s Rajya Sabha candidate and asked if there was any deal. Tiwari also sought clarification from Kejrwal on the “Rajya Sabha deal” on behalf of the people in the city.
Quoting an RTI reply, BJP leader said that health services under the Kejriwal Government have collapsed. “On one side, situation in Government hospitals is pathetic as number of beds available to patients has come down, on the other hand, Kejriwal has given ticket to the owner of a private hospital,” he added.
“I want to ask the Chief Minister is there any link or any deal,” Tiwari questioned two days after the AAP on Wednesday named Gupta, besides a chartered accountant ND Gupta and party leader Sanjay Singh as its Rajya Sabha candidates.
“Before coming to power in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party had said it would increase the beds in the Government hospital,” Tiwari said.
The BJP MP from northeast Delhi also said that an RTI has revealed that the GB Pant Hospital, which has a capacity of 758 beds, has a lower bed-strength now at 735.
Even in Delhi’s Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital, only 100 beds were available for patients whereas it has a capacity of 250 beds, he added.
Tiwari further claimed that when an RTI query was sent to the lal Bahadur Shastri hospital in Khichdipur area about the number of beds, the hospital refused to reply and said no information pertaining to beds was available in hospital domain.
“Kejriwal also promised for providing protection to homeless people but ground realities are entirely different,” Tiwari added.
“I am asking this because the people in Delhi are questioning your decision to name businessman Sushil Gupta as the party’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha,” Tiwari said.