'Who would be responsible for heart attack deaths': Oppn parties slam BJP over Covishield row
New Delhi/Varanasi, Apr 30: A political row erupted on Tuesday over the issue of "side effects" of Covishield vaccine, with the Samajwadi Party alleging that the BJP took "commission" from the manufacturer of the Covid jab and the RJD accusing the Centre of administering "wrong" vaccine to people of the country.
Who would be responsible for people dying of heart attacks, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress also attacked Modi over the issue and alleged that the PM has played with the lives of people. "Is this Modi's guarantee?" UP Congress chief Ajay Rai asked.
UK-headquartered pharma giant AstraZeneca has admitted that in "very rare cases", its COVID-19 vaccine, which is known as Vaxzevria in Europe and Covishield in India, can cause a blood clot-related side effect but the causal link is unknown, according to court papers being quoted in the UK media.
In India, the AstraZeneca vaccine was manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
Attacking the ruling BJP over the issue, SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav said, "It has been exposed now that they have taken commission in vaccines too. Low quality vaccines and medicines were given to the people." Shivpal Yadav was talking to reporters in UP's Etah.
Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, said people were "forcibly" administered Covid vaccines in the country.
"A donation of Rs 200-300 crore was taken (by the BJP) and they (company) were given permission to sell the vaccine. People were forcibly administered vaccines. The corruption in manufacturing the vaccine has come to the fore due to which people are dying now," said Dimple Yadav, who is the SP candidate from Mainpuri Lok sabha seat.
"Akhilesh ji had said that we would not get the vaccine administered because till then the vaccine was not tested. Now, the number of heart attacks has increased in the country and people are suffering from serious diseases due to this haste," she told reporters in Etah.
The Daily Telegraph reported that in a legal document submitted to the High Court in London in February for a group action brought by 51 claimants, AstraZeneca admitted that the vaccine developed with the University of Oxford to protect against COVID-19 may cause Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) in "very rare cases".
Speaking to reporters in Varanasi, UP Congress chief Rai said that Prime Minister Modi not only promoted Covishield during the pandemic, but he and his party leaders also asked for votes in the name of the Covid vaccine in the elections.
"Will Modi ji and the BJP take responsibility of the deaths caused due to the side effects of the vaccine in the country?" Rai said.
The RJD alleged that the ruling BJP pushed the vaccine to get donations through electoral bonds.
"Mr. Prime Minister, who will be responsible for the millions of heart attack deaths that happened, and may happen in future due to the side effects of the Covishield vaccine?" the RJD said in a post in Hindi on X.
"In order to collect donations through Electoral Bonds, BJP gave the wrong vaccine to crores of countrymen? Experts should shed light on this," the Lalu Yadav-led party said.
कोविशील्ड वैक्सीन के साइड इफेक्ट्स के कारण हार्ट अटैक से हुई लाखों मौतों एवं भविष्य में भी अगर हार्ट- अटैक से आपकी, हमारी अथवा किसी की भी मौत होती है तो इसके जिम्मेदार कौन होंगे, प्रधानमंत्री जी?
— Rashtriya Janata Dal (@RJDforIndia) April 30, 2024
बीजेपी ने Electoral Bond के ज़रिए चंदा लेने के चक्कर में करोड़ों देशवासियों को… pic.twitter.com/JgYmKZqq06
मोदी की गारंटी👇
— UP Congress (@INCUttarPradesh) April 30, 2024
52 करोड़ रुपए का चंदा = करोड़ों देशवासियों की जान का सौदा! pic.twitter.com/Samcdt82KE
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CISF takes over Parliament security from CRPF following December 13 security breach
New Delhi: More than 3,300 CISF personnel took over the complete counterterrorism and anti-sabotage security duties at the Parliament complex on Monday following the withdrawal of over 1,400 CRPF staff from the country's most important symbol of democracy, official sources said.
The parliament duty group (PDG) of the CRPF wound up its entire administrative and operational paraphernalia -- vehicles, weapons and commandos -- from the complex on Friday, and its commander, a deputy inspector general (DIG)-rank officer, handed over all the security points in the complex to the incoming CISF group, the sources said.
A total of 3,317 Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were inducted for securing both the old and new Parliament buildings and the associated structures in this complex located in central Delhi after the government directed it to take over the task from the CRPF following the December 13 security breach incident of last year, a senior officer told PTI.
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour on December 13, 2023, released yellow smoke from canisters, and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.
Outside the Parliament premises around the same time that day, two other persons sprayed coloured smoke from canisters while shouting slogans.
Following this incident, a committee under the chairmanship of CRPF DG was set up to look into the overall security issues of the Parliament complex and make suitable recommendations.
The CISF counterterrorism security unit took full charge of the Parliament complex from 6 am on Monday, May 20, the officer said, requesting anonymity.
It deployed its staff to guard all the flap entry gates of the complex, posted canine squads, firefighting personnel along with fire tenders, manpower at CCTV monitoring control room and communication centre apart from the pass section, watch towers apart from specialists to undertake anti-sabotage checks and other operations at the Parliament complex, he said.
With this, the CRPF PDG, Delhi Police (about 150 personnel), and the parliament security staff (PSS) who jointly secured the Parliament till now, stood withdrawn, a senior CISF officer said.
He said the CISF personnel had been undertaking familiarisation exercises of the complex for the last 10 days and the men and women personnel of the force who will man reception areas have been given light blue full-sleeved shirts and brown pants apart from safari suits as their new uniform.
The first officer quoted above added that the PDG unit is expected to be merged with the six battalion strong VIP security wing of the CRPF, while the PSS staff could be tasked afresh for rendering security and protocol duties at other central government installations.
Some PSS staff could be retained for manning the lobbies of the house for marshal duties but a final decision is yet to be taken, he said.
The CISF contingent, according to sources, was deployed on a temporary manner called the 'internal security duty pattern' and it is expected that it will be granted a full-fledged sanction as new government assumes office after the ongoing general elections, sources said.
The CISF personnel were imparted refresher training in baggage screening, personal frisking, bomb detection and disposal, quick reaction terrorist counter, sniper task and public interaction and courtesy before being sent for the Parliament duty.
They also trained recently with the 'black cat' commandos of the National Security Guard (NSG) who were air-dropped from an IAF helicopter on the new Parliament complex to simulate a terrorist attack, the sources said.
A CRPF officer said PDG troops who left the Parliament complex on May 17 clicked selfies and took photographs as a token of remembrance of "efficiently" guarding the country's highest temple of democracy.
"During the 2001 terrorist attack, CRPF personnel showed extreme bravery along with personnel from other agencies to defeat the dastardly assault with one personnel laying down her life in the line of duty while some others receiving gallantry medals and in 2023 they were not responsible for the breach that took place."
"The PDG personnel felt sad that they had to surrender this duty despite giving their best," the CRPF officer said.
