BJP asks CM to apologise for linking COVID vaccines with heart attacks as expert panel rejects claim
Bengaluru(PTI): BJP on Sunday demanded an apology from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for attributing a spate of cardiac arrests in Karnataka—particularly in Hassan district—to COVID-19 vaccination, after an expert panel found no evidence to support the claim.
A panel constituted by the government concluded that there is no single cause behind the observed increase in sudden cardiac deaths. Rather, it described the phenomenon as multifactorial, with behavioural, genetic, and environmental risk factors contributing.
The BJP said the Chief Minister must issue an unconditional apology for making what it called a “baseless allegation.”
Calling Siddaramaiah’s remarks “irresponsible,” Union Minister Pralhad Joshi pointed out that premier national institutions including the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and AIIMS-Delhi have all clarified that there is no scientific evidence linking COVID-19 vaccines to heart attacks.
“Siddaramaiah is deliberately making such statements because the vaccine was developed during Prime Minister Modi’s tenure,” Joshi said in Hubballi. “They assumed the pandemic would politically damage the Prime Minister—people would suffer and turn against him. But PM Modi handled COVID with sensitivity and care.”
Joshi said that because the Prime Minister was widely credited with managing the pandemic effectively, the opposition was resorting to unfounded claims.
“After ICMR, NCDC and AIIMS refuted any link between vaccines and cardiac events, now the Karnataka government’s own Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology—a reputed institution not just in the state but across India—has also found no correlation,” Joshi said.
He noted that the committee, led by Dr. Ravindranath, Director of the Jayadeva Institute, was set up by Siddaramaiah himself to examine any possible link between COVID vaccination and cardiac deaths. “The panel has clearly stated that COVID vaccines are not the cause of heart attacks. Will Siddaramaiah apologise now? I strongly condemn his statement,” Joshi added.
BJP spokesperson Dr CN Ashwath Narayan also criticised Siddaramaiah, alleging that his statement was aimed at discrediting Indian-made vaccines and undermining the Prime Minister.
“He questioned the efficacy of a vaccine that saved millions of lives, without citing any scientific basis. Chief minister should apologise to the people of the state for spreading misinformation,” Narayan said.
The observational study conducted at Jayadeva Institute found no association between premature cardiovascular disease and prior COVID-19 infection or vaccination.
“Most global studies and reports did not find any causal link between COVID-19 vaccination and sudden cardiac events. On the contrary, vaccination has been shown to offer long-term protection against cardiac issues,” the panel noted.
Recently, Siddaramaiah had suggested that a spate of heart attack deaths in Hassan district could be linked to the COVID-19 vaccination drive. He had also claimed that the vaccines were “hastily” approved.
His comments drew strong criticism from Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
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Sabarimala gold issue: UDF alleges CM's office interference, disrupts Assembly
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Alleging interference by the Chief Minister’s office in the SIT probe into the Sabarimala gold loss cases, the Congress-led UDF opposition disrupted Assembly proceedings on Tuesday, declaring that it would no longer cooperate with the House.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, informed Speaker A N Shamseer about the UDF's decision as the House proceedings commenced.
As the opposition protest continued in the House amidst the question hour, Congress MLA Anwar Sadath suddenly attempted to climb onto the Speaker's dais, leading to Shamseer stopping the assembly for around half-an-hour and leaving for his chambers.
Subsequently, when he returned at around 10 am, state Law Minister P Rajeev submitted in the House that the opposition was trying to subvert a proper probe into the Sabarimala gold case.
As the minister began speaking, the opposition started shouting and re-started its protest.
Rajeev alleged that it was the opposition which brought prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty into the picture to subvert the Global Ayyappa Sangam organised by the government.
"It is the opposition which knows who stole the gold from the shrine," he contended.
Dramatic scenes were witnessed in the House, after Shamseer said it was not right that some UDF MLAs tried to climb onto the Speaker's dais, as Sadath again tried to do the same and was pushed back by the watch-and-ward personnel of the assembly.
Subsequently, the watch-and-ward staff also forcibly pulled away the banner held up by the opposition MLAs in front of the dais.
Following the action by the watch-and-ward staff, more UDF MLAs tried to climb onto the dais, forcing the Speaker to again briefly adjourn the House as the ruling front legislators laughed at the actions of the opposition.
At 9 am when the House began, Satheesan alleged that the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was not going anywhere and conditions were being created for more of the arrested accused in the two Sabarimala gold loss cases to come out on statutory bail.
He said that soon prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty and three CPI(M) leaders, also arrested in the case, would be out on statutory bail.
"All this is happening due to the pressure and interference from the Chief Minister's Office. So, we would like to inform you (Speaker) that we are intensifying our protest by bringing it into the House and we are not going to cooperate with the assembly proceedings," the opposition leader said.
Opposition MLAs trooped into the well of the House and held up placards -- some of which claimed CPI(M) was protecting those accused in the two cases and that the Left party leaders stole Lord Ayyappa's gold -- in front of the Speaker's dais, shouting slogans against the government.
The question hour of the House, subsequently, proceeded amidst the opposition protest.
Responding to the opposition protest, state Health Minister Veena George said that not cooperating with the House proceedings shows the irresponsibility of the UDF.
The opposition intensified its protest a day after a vigilance court on Monday granted statutory bail to former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) executive officer D Sudheesh Kumar in two cases related to the loss of gold from the Sabarimala temple.
Former TDB administrative officers B Murari Babu and S Sreekumar are already out on statutory bail in the matter.
Sreekumar has not been made an accused in the second case involving the loss of gold from the doorframes of Sreekovil.
Potty has got statutory bail in one of the cases and once he gets the same relief in the other, he too will come out of jail.
The cases relate to the alleged loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idol plates and from the gold cladding on the door frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum).
The SIT has made 12 arrests in the matter till date.
