Mangoes, not Covid situation, interest Mayor Bijal Patel

Mayor Bijal Patel miffed when questioned on Covid-19 crisis in city at inauguration of 15-day mango fest at GMDC grounds

A very busy Mayor Bijal Patel does not have the inclination to answer questions pertaining to the coronavirus situation in the city. She would rather be an 'aam' citizen than Ahmedabad's first citizen.

On Tuesday, the mayor inaugurated the 15-day mango festival at GMDC grounds. The mediapersons present at the launch posed questions to her about the social media post doing the rounds that said former civic chief Vijay Nehra was transferred because he was busy promoting himself and overlooked people's problems. But Patel categorically told them that she would only take questions pertaining to mangoes and the festival.

The aforementioned social media post accused Nehra, who has now been transferred to the position of Commissioner, Rural Development, of spreading panic by saying that Ahmedabad would see 8 lakh cases. It further said that he left the city in the hands of god and home-quarantined himself due to which the government had to hand over the responsibility to higher officials who were capable of taking the right decisions. This post was also shared by several BJP leaders and Deputy Mayor Dinesh Makwana.

Asked if she believed that the high number of cases in Ahmedabad, which is Gujarat's corona hotspot, had to do with Nehra's alleged inability to handle the Covid-19 situation, she said, "I have come to inaugurate the mango festival and will only talk about it."

On Tuesday, Ahmedabad reported 251 new Covid-19 cases and 23 deaths. When Mirror later spoke to Patel about the matter, she said, "Whenever the media poses a question to me I do reply. People even come home and ask me questions; they also call me up but I do not shy away from answering them. But on Tuesday, I was at the mango festival and so I only wanted to talk about mangoes."

Dinesh Sharma, leader of opposition in the AMC, said, "Covid cases have been spreading in Ahmedabad. The Mayor is the first citizen of Ahmedabad and should not refuse to comment on such a serious issue. She should in fact think about how to ensure people remain safe. However, it looks like she is only interested in inaugurations and not in problems faced by the citizens."