New Delhi: After PM Modi announced free vaccines for all from June 21, Congress leader P Chidambaram was quoted by ANI as slamming the Prime Minister for claiming that the Centre allowed states to buy vaccines following state requests and demanding details as to which state put forth the demand and when.
Following the comment, a letter from Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee emerged on Twitter, and the former union minister tweeted a public take-back, "I told ANI' please tell us which state government demanded that it should be allowed to directly procure vaccines' Social media activists have posted the copy of the letter of CM, West Bengal to PM making such a request. I was wrong. I stand corrected," Chidambaram tweeted.
While several opposition parties attributed the new 'decentralised vaccine policy' to the Supreme Court's criticism of the existent policy, Chidambaram alleged that despite 'cardinal mistakes', the PM was blaming the Opposition for mistakes of the Centre.
"The underlying message was that the central government learned from its mistakes. They made two cardinal mistakes and made effort to correct those mistakes, but as usual bluff and bluster, the Prime Minister blames the Opposition for the mistakes he committed. Nobody, but nobody, said that the Centre shouldn't procure vaccines. He (PM) now blames state governments, saying - they wanted to procure vaccines, so we allowed them. Let us know which CM, which state government, on what date demanded that he should be allowed to procure vaccines," he told ANI.
However, Mamata Banerjee had written to PM Modi on February 24, demanding that Bengal be allowed to source vaccInes on its own. "We would request you to kindly take up the matter with appropriate authority so that State government is able to purchase the vaccines from designated point(s) on top priority basis because the West Bengal government wants to provide vaccination free of cost to all the people," the Chief Minister's letter read.