‘Would Have Put COVID in Devendra Fadnavis’ Mouth’: Shiv Sena MLA

BJP workers, on Sunday, burnt Gaikwad’s effigies and staged protests in Buldhana.

Devendra Fadnavis, has alleged that Mumbai Police arrested a remdesivir supplier whom BJP had approached to supply the anti-viral drug to the state.

(Photo: Eshwar Ranjana/The Quint)

Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad has picked another fight with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis, stating on Saturday, 17 April, that if he found COVID, he would have put it in Fadnavis' mouth. As per PTI, his remarks have sparked protests in the Opposition party in Maharashtra.

BJP workers on Sunday, 18 April, burnt Gaikwad's effigies and staged protests in Buldhana, added the report.

Gaikwad, in reference to the Remdesivir stock that was recently discovered by Maharashtra Police, accused BJP of not supporting the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the state.

As quoted by PTI, Gaikwad said:

“Hence, if I would have found the coronavirus, I would have put it into the mouth of Devendra Fadnavis.”

Shiv Sena MLA, Sanjay Gaikwad

A fresh controversy erupted over the BJP and Fadnavis trying to procure the Remdesivir drug from a firm in Daman.

Gaikwad, as per the report, asked what Fadnavis would do if he was chief minister at this time when Maharashtra is facing its biggest surge in the number of cases.

Dubbing the move as petty politics, Gaikwad said that BJP leaders like Pravin Darekar, Chandrakant Patil, and Fadnavis were engaging in the same over the distribution of the Remdesivir injections.

He added, as per the report, that the Centre has asked companies not to supply the drug to the state, and has shorthanded Maharashtra from accessing the required medical oxygen.

What Is the Remdesivir Controversy?

The Maharashtra Police on 17 April claimed that it was probing a case of alleged ‘illegal’ export of Remdesivir by Bruck Pharma. The Maharashtra BJP later claimed that due permission had been obtained by the party to procure it for donation to the Maharashtra government.

At around 11:15 pm on 17 April, the Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadanvis, Praveen Darekar, MLA Parag Alavani, and Prasad Lad arrived at the BKC police station. Fadnavis enquired why the director had been called.

Explaining what Fadnavis told them, the police said, “He (Fadnavis) said permission was taken from Commissioner FDA to donate the stock of Remdesivir vials to the Maharashtra government, as Remdesivir stocked for export cannot be diverted to the domestic market without permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) or FDA.”

“Mumbai Police acted in good faith. The director of the pharmaceutical company was called for an inquiry in order to trace and seize a large quantity i.e. 60,000 vials, of the life-saving medicine Remdesevir, based on a specific input verified by facts,” it said.

These facts were explained to Fadnavis and the other leaders and the director of the pharma company was let off after being told he had to be present for inquiry whenever needed in the future.

The Mumbai police, the BJP, the MVA, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are now engaged in a war of claims and counter-claims over the controversy, with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) calling the BJP’s claims “suspicious”.