Trinamool used Maoists to vandalise Syama Prasad's bust in March: BJP
Kolkata, June 23: The BJP on Saturday lauded the West Bengal government's decision to observe the death anniversary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, but accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of using Maoists to vandalise the leader's bust in March.
West Bengal Ministers Firhad Hakim and Sovandeb Chattopadhyay on Saturday attended a government programme before Mookerjee's bust at south Kolkata's Keoratala crematorium on the occasion of his 65th death anniversary and claimed there was "no politics" in paying respect to "a great son of Bengal and India".
Responding to it, BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha told reporters here that "Trinamool used Maoists to vandalise the bust of Mookerjee and now they are trying to atone for the sin that they had committed. I think Trinamool took time to realise that Bengal is still a part of India because of Syama Prasad Mookerjee."
He was refering to the March 7 incident when the bust was vandalised by a group of Left radicals in protest against the pulling down of two statues of Russian communist revolutionary Lenin in Tripura, allegedly by the BJP-RSS activists.
Appreciating the Bengal government's decision, state BJP President Dilip Ghosh, however, said "it had come too late".
"I heard of the state government's decision to observe the death anniversary of Syama Prasad. This is a noble thought and good job. But it has come too late. However, it deserves to be praised and I appreciate the government's decision," he said after paying his respect to Mookerjee.
State Minister Hakim said the state government as also Trinamool have been paying their respects to him over the years.
"We had garlanded the bust of Mookerjee when BJP was not in the picture. Our party leaders have been paying respect to him over the years and we have been paying respect to great personalities of India," he said.
Asked whether there is any politics behind the government's decision, Chattopadhyay said: "There is no politics in paying respect to Mookerjee who is a great son of Bengal. This is our duty to pay honour to him."
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) saw the government's decision as yet another instance of the "collusion" between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
