Surprising that despite Rs 65,000-cr budget AAP govt unable to buy PPE: Delhi BJP

A day after Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia sought Central funds to fight coronavirus, the Delhi BJP on Sunday hit out at the AAP government expressing surprise that despite passing a Rs 65,000-crore budget it was "unable" to buy personal protective equipment (PPE).

The BJP's East Delhi MP and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir accused the Arvind Kejriwal government of "shedding crocodile tears" and "playing the victim card" over the issue.

"Delhi government on March 23 passed a budget of Rs 65,000 crore, in a day instead of a five-day session due to coronavirus... Surprisingly, despite that Delhi government is unable to buy PPE kits worth Rs 1-2 crore. God knows what Arvind Kejriwal's intention is behind this," Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari tweeted.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed that his government has asked for PPE kits from the Centre but none were received.

East Delhi BJP MP Gautam Gambhir said that he had offered to donate Rs 50 lakh to the Delhi government for buying PPE kits and masks, but did not receive any feedback.

"People would have benefited if the crores spent on TV advertisements aired from morning till evening were instead used on PPE kits. I had pledged Rs 50 lakh for PPE kits and masks but there is no feedback so far. Now they are asking the Centre. Shedding crocodile tears and playing victim card are two weapons of Arvind Kejriwal," he tweeted in hindi.

Sisodia on Saturday demanded a disaster fund from the Centre to fight the coronavirus outbreak in Delhi, saying it was third most affected state in the country.

In a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Delhi deputy chief minister said the Centre released over Rs 17,000 crore to the states from the Disaster fund but not a single rupee was given to Delhi.

With 59 fresh cases, the total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital rose to 445 on Saturday. Delhi has the third highest number of COVID-19 cases in country after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.