In letter to Mamata, Vijayvargiya alleges 'glaring discrepancies' in Bengal COVID-19 bulletin

Amid allegations that the West Bengal government was not revealing the true COVID-19 picture, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday, claiming that "glaring discrepancies" exist in the Health Department's bulletin.

The BJP leader indicated that the state government was still making attempts to hide the real picture despite criticism from all quarters.

Vijayvargiya's letter to Banerjee came a day after the IMCT wrote to Chief Secretary Rijiva Sinha that the state had the highest mortality rate in the country at 12.8 per cent and the "extremely high mortality rate is a clear indication of low testing, weak surveillance and tracking".

The government is coming out with a much detailed bulletin since Monday, but the data it is providing to people still have a lot of discrepancies, Vijayvargiya said.

"There are several unanswered questions on how the State Government is handling the COVID pandemic," the BJP's Bengal minder wrote to Banerjee. "But I hope, in the interim, you will take note of the above observations and ensure these discrepancies are addressed at the earliest."