The Gujarat Congress on Monday alleged that the ‘Namaste Trump’ event organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on February 24 in Ahmedabad was responsible for the death of over 800 persons due to coronavirus in the state, drawing a sharp rebuttal from the ruling party.
State Congress president Amit Chavda said his party will soon file a petition in the Gujarat High Court, seeking an independent probe through a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in organisation of the mega event.
However, the state BJP dismissed the allegations, claiming the opposition party was now trying to counter media reports which had “revealed how coronavirus spread after Tablighi Jamaat’s Delhi Markaz event” (held in mid-March).
On February 24, visiting US President Donald Trump along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part in a road show in Ahmedabad which was attended by thousands of people.
After the roadshow, the two leaders addressed a gathering of over one lakh people at the sprawling Motera cricket stadium, run by the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA).
The mega event was christened ‘Namaste Trump’. Gujarat reported its first coronavirus cases on March 20, when samples of a man from Rajkot and a woman from Surat tested positive for the disease.
As on May 25, the death toll in Gujarat due to the viral infection stood at 888, while the case tally was 14,468.
A majority of the cases and fatalities have been reported from Ahmedabad district.
“Though the World Health Organisation had issued a warning about coronavirus in January itself, the state’s BJP government went ahead in organising the Namaste Trump event which has resulted in the death of over 800 persons due to the pandemic,” alleged Chavda.
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