"Entire Responsibility Is Of Government": Akhilesh Yadav On Oxygen Deaths

The Centre's statement -- that no deaths due to lack of oxygen were reported by states and Union Territories during the second COVID-19 wave -- has generated huge political backlash that echoed in parliament.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav today joined the ranks of opposition parties slamming the government over its statement on oxygen in parliament yesterday. The statement -- that no deaths due to lack of oxygen were reported by states and Union Territories during the second COVID-19 wave -- has generated huge political backlash that echoed in parliament. "When people were desperate for oxygen, the BJP government could do nothing," Akhilesh Yadav said in the evening. "The people who died struggling for the oxygen, the entire responsibility is of the government. The government saying there was no oxygen shortage, this is the biggest lie of the BJP," said the former Chief Minster of Uttar Pradesh, whose successor, the BJP's Yogi Adityanatha had also denied any oxygen shortage in his state. But later, mass graves on the banks of Ganga and thousands of bodies floating down the river raised speculation about a huge number of Covid deaths in the state that went unreported as the virus swept through the rural areas.