COVID-19: Siddaramaiah asks Karnataka govt to 'Let Congress Vaccinate'

New Delhi [India], May 25 (ANI): Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday asked the Karnataka State government to allow the Congress party to directly procure COVID-19 vaccines with their 'Rs 100 crore plan' and vaccinate the people of Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah took to Twitter saying, "Experts have pointed that vaccination is the only way to prevent further waves of pandemic. It is unfortunate that PMO India has done little to procure vaccines. We from INC Karnataka have a plan to fund Rs 100 Cr+ for procurement. I urge the CM of Karnataka to 'Let Congress Vaccinate."
"It is a proven fact that people can be protected from COVID-19 by vaccination. The BJP government has botched up the vaccination process and left the people of Karnataka in a miserable condition. Today there is no system in place and people have to fend for themselves," Siddaramaiah said in the video shared on Twitter.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) launched a massive online campaign to create awareness about the importance of COVID-19 vaccination and to build pressure on the government to allow the Congress in Karnataka to directly procure COVID-19 vaccines with their 'Rs 100 crore plan'.
According to an official statement, more than 20,000 people lent their support to the campaign on the day of the launch and shared their videos on Twitter and Facebook, asking the BJP government to permit Congress to procure vaccines directly and vaccinate the people of Karnataka.
DK Shivakumar, the president of the state unit of the party, said that Rs 10 crore will come from the Congress and the remaining Rs 90 crore can come from funds of their MLA/MLC funds.
As part of the 'Let Congress Vaccinate' campaign, Shivakumar, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC Working President Eshwar Khandre and several MLAs and MLCs shared their video messages to highlight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government's alleged failure to procure vaccine and inoculate people in this pandemic.

"BJP has not made enough vaccines available to Karnataka, choosing to export them instead for their own narrow PR gains. The consequence of this is that the health and well-being of our people have been compromised, thereby increasing the mortality rate in our state due to COVID," Shivakumar said asserting that "Congress is firm on its Rs 100-core plan."

"This fund shall be utilised to directly procure vaccines from manufacturers and administer them to the people of Karnataka," he added.
Seeking support of the public for its Rs 100 crore plan, the KPCC President said: "The Congress Party has been repeatedly asking for permission for vaccination from the Government but we have not been granted it yet. On behalf of the Congress Party, we need your wholehearted support so that we can build pressure on the Government and we are able to show to them how vaccines can be procured and administered to people - in a totally transparent, fair and efficient manner."
According to the Union Health Ministry, Karnataka has 4,73,007 active COVID-19 cases. The total number of recoveries has reached 19,26,615 and fatalities have mounted to 25,282. (ANI)