Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, 22 October, announced free COVID vaccine as one of the poll promises by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
“As and when the vaccine candidates that are currently under various levels of trials in the country get scientific clearances and a go-ahead for production, the people of Bihar will get vaccination for free once the production in India is on a large scale. This is our first poll promise as mentioned in the manifesto,” she said.
On the same day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami said, “When the coronavirus vaccine is developed, it will be administered free of cost to the people of the state, with the government bearing all costs.”
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, too, announced that the poor people in the state would be given the vaccine free of cost.
In its mouthpiece Saamana, Shiv Sena, too criticised the BJP and said that not only Bihar, but other states of the country should get free COVID-19 vaccines as well.
“Bihar should get vaccine but other states of our country are not Pakistan. Why do politics over coronavirus vaccine when the whole country is badly suffering from the virus, it is not just only Bihar. All have equal rights over the vaccine,” the party said in the editorial.