Pappu Yadav, who is also a former Lok Sabha member, has demanded to know why the ambulances were kept off the roads and not being used.
After a fleet of ambulances were found unused – covered with tarpaulin and parked – on premises belonging to the BJP MP from Bihar’s Saran Rajeev Pratap Rudy, an argument has now erupted between the BJP leader and Jan Adhikar Party chief Pappu Yadav.
Pappu Yadav, who is also a former Lok Sabha member, has demanded to know why the ambulances were kept off the roads and not being used when the district and state is battling a huge rise in Covid cases, and medical resources like ambulances, drugs and oxygen are in short supply.
“There are over 30 ambulances here. There were more earlier but they have been moved. Overall close to 100 ambulances were parked here. We want to know why they were not being used… this is not about Rudyji or Pappu… this is about Bihar and the people of Bihar,” Pappu Yadav said.
Mr Rudy, who’s an MP from the Saran constituency that was previously held by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, responded to Mr Yadav’s allegations saying the ambulances were stationary because of a lack of drivers.
“There are not 60, 70 or 100 ambulances, but only 20. And they are not being used because we don’t have drivers. Pappu Yadav… you can take all the ambulances, but promise the people of Saran that you will find and employ drivers for all of them,” the BJP MP said.
On Thursday, the Saran MP also to the District Magistrate of Chhapra to ask for doctors who can drive the ambulances.
The videos doing rounds on social media showed Mr Yadav striding onto land owned by Mr Rudy at his native village – Madhaura – in Bihar’s Saran district, and removing tarpaulin covers of a few ambulances that are also marked with the phrase ‘MPLADS-2019’.
Under MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme), elected representatives are allocated a fixed sum of ₹ 5 crore every year to develop his or her constituency. The scheme, however, has been suspended by the centre since April last year, so funds can be redirected to fighting Covid.
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