Pune: Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s decision to re-impose a strict lockdown in the city is being opposed by several political parties and leaders, but interestingly the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) city unit is clearly divided on this issue. While many BJP corporators have quietly supported the lockdown decision in private, the Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and Member of Parliament (MP) are openly opposing it.
MP Girish Bapat has claimed that he was kept in the dark by the Deputy CM and district administration while taking an important decision like re-locking the city to contain the spread of coronavirus. While opposing the lockdown in principle, Bapat said, “The administration can and should take the strictest action against individuals who are found not wearing masks or not following social distancing norms in the city. But why is the government and administration punishing 97 per cent of Punekars for the 3 per cent of containment zones that have been identified? If elected representatives are taken into confidence then we would support the government, but don’t make a decision like lockdown by just relying upon the advice of bureaucrats.”
Bapat also criticized the state government, stating that the government had a few days before started the unlock phase by declaring Mission Begin Again but is now inclined to re-impose lockdown in various cities and towns. “On one side you issue orders for unlocking the state and on the other side you lockdown a city like Pune, what kind of strategy is this? Bapat has questioned.
MLA Siddharth Shirole has also criticised the move of lockdown. In one his tweet, Siddharth says, “Enforcing the lockdown to disguise failures of the state government and administration is iniquitous to the citizens of our city who were slowly getting back to normalcy. The lockdown has now become a compulsion, which could have easily been prevented with proactive action.”
In another tweet, Siddharth said, “I fail to understand how the State Government and Administration plans to revamp and rebuild Pune's medical infrastructure and prepare for future spikes by administering a 10-day lock down, when they have been miserably unsuccessful to do so in the past 100 days.”
Interestingly, several BJP corporators have welcomed the decision of lockdown, but they can't go public against their own leaders. One of the corporators, on condition of anonymity, said, “We are working on the ground every day and the situation is very grim. Citizens are not ready to test themselves. Some who have been advised to stay at home in isolation or quarantine themselves, are freely roaming outside. The recent spike in COVID-cases was due to the unlocking phase. Lockdown will only help citizens realise the seriousness of the situation.”
Edited by Akshay Badwe
