Vijayapura: The BJP’s central leadership continues to face flack from different quarters, mainly the Opposition, for its announcement of free Covid vaccines for the people of Bihar if the party wins in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

Former health minister and veteran Congress MLA Shivanand Patil has joined the league by terming the recent announcement by the BJP as the “cheapest political gimmick” to garner votes.

Addressing presspersons on Saturday, he said, “The pandemic has not affected only Bihar. Today, the highest number of active Covid cases are found in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. Forgetting this fact and announcing free Covid vaccines for Bihar is, I believe, the lowest level of electoral politics the BJP is playing.”

Alleging that Bihar’s government has neglected patients suffering from other various ailments under the garb of managing the Covid pandemic, Patil said that several patients suffering from serious health problems such as kidney failure, cardiac issues, BP and diabetes are not getting medical facilities in government and private hospitals.

He urged the government to conduct a detailed survey of how many non-Covid patients have died and how many Covid patients have died after the pandemic hit the state.

Claiming that most of the major hospitals have been converted into Covid hospitals, he said that non-Covid patients are not getting beds. “Take the example of the District Government Hospital itself. Before Covid, the hospital was recording over 1,500 OPD patients whereas today, it has come down to 200 or so,” he added.

Regarding the recent change in Cabinet portfolios, where the health ministry was given to Dr K Sudhakar, Patil said that in the past, governments have unnecessarily divided the ministries only to accommodate more legislators into the Cabinet.

No successive government has tried to rectify the mistake and amalgamate relevant ministries, he added.