Cong leader says stopped from protesting outside PM residence, sits on dharna

Kolkata: Former Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma sat on a dharna in his West Delhi residence on Wednesday after he was stopped by police from staging a sit-in outside the prime minister’s residence to demand medicines for people infected with black fungus.

Sharma said a large number of policemen were deployed outside his Vikaspuri residence and that he was not allowed to go out for the protest.

Amid a rise in the number of mucormycosis or black fungal infection in the national capital, there have been reports of shortage of medicines required to treat it.

The Congress leader said, ”I tried to leave for PM’s residence around 12.30 PM when the policemen stopped my vehicle and did not allow me to leave my house. I sat in protest in my house itself. I warn that if black fungus medicines are not made available to the patients within 48 hours, I will sit on a dharna outside PM’s residence.” The police, however, denied the allegations.

”There is no house arrest. However, lockdown guidelines need to be followed,” the Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) said in a tweet. Delhi has imposed a lockdown to check the spread of COVID-19. Experts have blamed an indiscriminate use of steroids among coronavirus patients for the spike in black fungus cases.