A police probe into the stocking of a Covid-19 medicine in Maharashtra has led to allegations of a BJP ploy to starve the Opposition-ruled state of the life-saving drug, a charge India’s ruling party has denied.
News agency PTI reported that the police had detained and questioned the director of a pharmaceutical company for stocking 60,000 vials of remdesivir, whose export has been banned.
The executive was allowed to go after he showed the necessary documents for the stock, PTI said. However, several BJP leaders met police officers soon after the executive was detained and questioned the probe.
PTI quoted Maharashtra’s minority affairs minister, Nawab Malik of the NCP, as saying on Sunday: “…When two leaders of Opposition (Devendra Fadnavis and MLC Praveen Darekar) and two legislators go to the police station late in the night after detention of (a director of Bruck Pharma, Rajesh Kailash) Dokania, something is fishy…. The BJP is trying to ensure that Maharashtra doesn’t get its stock of remdesivir.”
Malik added: “Why did the state BJP leaders get scared? The BJP leaders should explain to the people of Maharashtra why they were ‘favouring’ Dokania.”
BJP leader Fadnavis told reporters: “Daman-based Bruck Pharma Private Limited was one of the exporters of remdesivir, whom we (BJP members) had contacted to supply the stock to Maharashtra as the state is facing shortage of remdesivir vials. We have even informed the state food and drug administration minister (Rajendra Shingne of the NCP) about it and approached the Union government seeking necessary permissions.”
He added: “The Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers, Mansukh Mandviya, has also given necessary orders enabling the sale of exportable stock of remdesivir in Maharashtra. However, I was shocked to find (out) that one of the OSDs (officers on special duty) of the state FDA minister had contacted the owner of Bruck Pharma and allegedly threatened him, over him approaching the Centre on the suggestions of BJP leaders.”
The political slugfest had begun on Saturday morning with Malik accusing the Centre of stalling the supply of the drug.
He had tweeted: “It is sad & shocking that when government of Maharashtra asked the 16 export companies for #remdesivir, we were told that central government has asked them not to supply the medicine to #Maharashtra. These companies were warned, if they did, their licence will be cancelled.”
Earlier this month, the BJP had drawn flak in neighbouring Gujarat after its state unit president C.R. Patil procured 5,000 vials of the drug — normally sold only to medical institutions and not individuals or parties — for distribution in Surat.
Jayant Patil, minister and chief of the NCP’s state unit, tweeted: “With shortage of remdesivir, last night @MumbaiPolice rightly fulfilled their duty to check any supply malpractices/ hoarding. The real Q is: Can any BJP leader, without any info to state govt/ local authorities/ police, procure lakhs of lifesaving drugs @PMOIndia? It’s a new low.”