Babul Supriyo sparks controversy by posting a video of COVID-19 isolation ward

Union Minister Babul Supriyo posted a video on social media of a dead patient allegedly lying in the isolation ward of state-run hospital, which has ignited the tussle between the BJP and the TMC government. The latter is questioning it’s accuracy and asserting that the opposition BJP specializes in spreading fake news.
Supriyo, who posted the video on Twitter, claimed that it was in the public domain and urged the ruling Trinomial Congress to urgently investigate the matter.
“This is a shocking video…Since this VDO is in the public domain, I would request Honble WBCM @MamataOfficial to conduct a thorough enquiry into it & release the FACTs asap,” the minister of state for environment, forest and climate change wrote on the micro-blogging site.
Also, the Minister shared the viral video along with the personal details on Twitter which has left a 24-year-old in scars for his life, and traumatized to the point that he spent a night on the streets of Kolkata after not being allowed into his apartment and “threatened by random people”.
Somnath Das was admitted to the M.R. Bangur Hospital in Kolkata as a suspected coronavirus case. But Das tested negative and was discharged on Tuesday.
During his stay, however, he shot a video that showed a couple of dead bodies lying unattended for hours in the Covid-19 ward of the hospital where he had been kept. The video has since gone viral among the netizens.
Within hours of Das’ video going viral, the state government issued an instruction banning mobile phones in reserved COVID-19 hospitals. “Since mobile phones can be a potential source of spreading COVID-19 infection, no one will be allowed to carry, possess or use mobile phones inside the COVID hospitals in the State,” the order said. “This applies to all persons inside the hospital, whether patients or staff on duty. The deposit of patients’ mobile phones may be taken and a receipt may be given to them. However, to ensure they have a communication channel to the hospital administration, intercom facilities may be provided in the wards.”
The viral video was shared by senior BJP leaders to target the Mamata Banerjee government which had also restrained two central teams from evaluating the COVID-19 situation in the state and orchestrated a cover-up exercise.
The arrival of the two teams in West Bengal without prior information to the State government set off the scuffle between the Centre and the ruling government, As the panel members lay confined to guest houses for hours, the Minister of Home Affairs (MHA) sent a fresh letter to state government, “asking to make all necessary arrangements for IMCTs” even as the state government maintained its stand that such a team should have been sent after negotiation.
‘It is anyone’s guess why @MamataOfficial delayed the #IMCT from their inspection. Sure it must be for some kind of cover up exercise she has orchestrated. Here is the stringent reminder that the Centre had to send Mamata didi about things she has forgotten,’ Union minister Babul Supriyo said in a tweet.
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh came out in support of the Centre and accused TMC government for the lack of efforts to enforce the lockdown, especially in minority dominated places.
“It is not that the central teams visited only Bengal. None of the states have uttered a single word about it. The trinamool congress government has made it a habit to oppose the central government on every issue, even during the time of a crisis,” Ghosh said.
“This is not a political battle; it is a matter of life and death of people. The state government should come clean on the issue and cooperate with the Centre,” he added.
However, Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee had expressed strong objections to the visit of central teams and wrote a letter to the Prime Minister calling the development “unilateral”.
The Union home ministry said the COVID-19 situation is ‘especially serious’ in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and a few other places in West Bengal, and that the violation of lockdown measures risk the spread of the contagious novel coronavirus.