Mumbai: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis has found himself in the middle of a controversy and is facing criticism on some social media after several screenshots of his nephew Tanmay Fadnavis taking a dose of Covid-19 vaccine went viral. The controversy stirred up after Fadnavis's nephew Tanmay uploaded a post-jab picture after receiving a second shot of Covid-19 vaccine went viral, but deleted it minutes later after getting trolled.
22-year-oldTanmay is the grandson of senior BJP leader, MLC and former minister, Shobha Fadnavis and son of Abhijit Fadnavis -- the cousin of Devendra Fadnavis, a former chief minister of the state.
Congress, Sena slams Fadnavis as pic of his 22-year-old nephew taking Coronavirus jab goes viral
Maharashtra Congress tweeted a photo and claimed that Devendra Fadnavis's "nephew" got vaccinated, inspite of being under 45 years of age. Congress has questioned when only people of age 45 and above are eligible to take Coronavirus vaccine, how did Fadnavis's nephew get vaccinated before most people of his age?
Latching onto the row, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also tore into Fadnavis for flouting rules and getting vaccines out of turn. "Even the Prime Minister waited for his turn to get vaccinated,didn’t flout rules but Fadnavis ji works by his own rules.Same for journalists who should have ideally been considered frontline workers yet not vaccinated while they report from the field because privileged they arent."
Former Maha CM Devendra Fadnavis Issues Clarification Over The Controversy
When asked about the controversy, Devendra Fadnavis said that Tanmay Fadnavis is a distant relative and he has no idea how and under what criteria he received his dose of vaccine.
The former Maharahtra CM was quoted by The Indian Express as saying, "Tanmay Fadnavis is my distant relative. I have no idea under which criteria he received his dose. If it has been taken as per guidelines, then there should be no objection. But if it is in violation of guidelines, it is completely improper."
Fadnavis declared even he and his wife and daughter have not received the vaccines yet. He was quoted by The Indian Express as saying, "My wife and daughter have also not received vaccination because they don’t qualify for it. I am of the firm opinion that everybody must follow the rules.”
The incident comes after the row over the supply of Remdesivir medicine to Maharashtra intensifying on Monday with the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government charging at BJP and Devendra Fadnavis of hoarding the antiviral drug. Fadnavis had hit back saying the BJP was trying to procure the anti-viral drug for the people of Maharashtra. “Again this time, we were trying to make sure that the stock of Remdesivir is procured for the people of Maharashtra. It was not meant for the BJP, but for the patients in the state.”