Jaundiced view

Chhattisgarh's capital city Raipur is in the grip of jaundice. The death of two dozen people from the disease has armed the opposition Congress with a big issue to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the state. The opposition party has constituted committees at the ward level to identify patients and provide medical assistance. Politically, meanwhile, the Congress is grilling a BJP leader from Nagpur on whose recommendation the maintenance and sanitation contract was given to a particular firm. They have alleged that the Nagpur-based firm failed to deliver and is responsible for the outbreak of this virus-borne disease. The only trouble for the opposition party is that this anti-campaign, which is earning it some brownie points, has come too late. The Assembly elections concluded in November and the general elections ended recently. The opposition now aims to keep the issue alive till the civic and panchayat polls due next year.