The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is drawing flak over a video wherein one of its councillors was seen jabbing a woman with the COVID-19 vaccine. At a vaccination camp in Asansol, about 210 km from state capital Kolkata, TMC councillor Tabassum Ara took over the role of the nurse and injected a woman sitting on a chair with a dose of vaccine.
THREAD: #TMC’s member of the administrative body of Asansol Civic Administration, Tabassum Ara vaccinating a person in the municipality camp in the presence of health workers. pic.twitter.com/FAg6bCoVML
— Sreyashi Dey (@SreyashiDey) July 3, 2021
The video instantly went viral, with many questioning the credentials of the TMC councillor for injecting he woman with vaccine herself instead of allowing the qualified nurses to do the same.
BJP mounts an attack against Mamata Banerjee-led govt, says it has lost control over its administrators
BJP leader Babul Supriyo shared the video of the TMC councillor administering the shot and asked if Mamata Banerjee would let such councillors go unpunished.
“Seems like TMC govt has no control over its administrators. TMC’s Tabassum Ara, a member of the administrative body of AMC, has vaccinated people herself and risked hundreds of lives… Will her political colour shield her from stern punishment?” Supriyo tweeted.
Seems like TMC govt has no control over its administrators.TMC’s Tabassum Ara, a member of the administrative body of AMC, has vaccinated people herself and risked hundreds of lives…Will her political colour shield her from stern punishment?@MamataOfficial pic.twitter.com/EaF3EsK9Bw
— Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) July 3, 2021
TMC Councillor claims she didn’t inject the vaccine, video shows otherwise
While the BJP has trained its guns against the Mamata Banerjee-led party, the TMC councillor at the centre of the controversy has vacillated between claiming she had done a nursing course in school to outrightly denying that she had administered a shot.
Tabassum Ara says she was only holding the injection & has done a nursing course in school. Adds, it’s an awareness drive she was holding so that more get vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/4isVF3pX3k
— Sreyashi Dey (@SreyashiDey) July 3, 2021
Tabassum Ara claimed that she was only holding the syringe, and didn’t inject it. “I did not give any vaccine. I was only holding the syringe in my hand. There are a lot of people who are hesitant of taking the shots,” Ara said. “While claims are being made that I administered the dose, I was just trying to spread awareness by holding the syringe,” she added.
However, the video clearly shows that she had inserted the needle on the arm of the woman, and injected the vaccine. In the video, the on-duty nurse was seen preparing the syringes, filling them with doses, while the TMC leader injected the same to the beneficiaries.
She also claimed that she had done a nursing course in school, and thus, she is not unqualified for injecting people.
