Bengaluru, Mar 27: BJP candidate from Bangalore South Tejasvi Surya found himself at the centre of a controversy Wednesday after the Karnataka Congress attacked him, citing allegations of 'abuse' by a woman against him and questioned the saffron party about his choice.

Neither Surya or BJP has reacted to the allegations or Congress' tweet so far.

"Is @Tejasvi_Surya another M J Akbar in the making? Dear @BJP4India, @Tejasvi_Surya seems to be a great choice.

#BangaloreSouth will remember.

#MeToo #LokSabhaPolls2019, Karnataka Congress tweeted with screen shots of comments made by a woman on Twitter.

M J Akbar had stepped down as Minister of State for External Affairs last year following a spate of allegations of sexual harassment during his days as editor of several publications.

The woman concerned seems to have deleted comments she made against Surya on Twitter.

According to the comments, screenshots of which was shared by the Congress with its tweet, the woman, replying to questions raised about her charges, claimed to have 'suffered' at the hands of Surya and has questioned why the BJP had not done a background check before giving him the ticket.

She also alleged she was not his first victim or would be the last and also claimed to be ready to share the proof.

In a surprise move, the BJP fielded the party's youth wing leader Surya from its bastion of Bangalore South from where the widow of union minister Ananth Kumar, a six-time MP from the constituency, was denied the ticket.

28-year-old Surya, a lawyer, filed his nomination on Tuesday, amid resentment within the party over Tejaswini, who runs an NGO and is known for social work, being denied the ticket.

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Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.

The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.

The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.

Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.

The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.

"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.

To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.

"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.

The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.

The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.

It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.