After BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party today accused the Punjab government of profiteering from COVID-19 vaccination by selling vaccine doses procured under state quota to private hospitals at higher price.

Punjab government has turned disaster into an opportunity, said AAP leader Raghav Chaddha and termed the profiteering as a scam.

The Punjab government procured COVID-19 vaccine under the state quota for Rs 400 and then sold it at Rs 1060 per dose to private hospitals.

#CaptainKaVaccineGhotala trends on Twitter

The AAP in a tweet used hashtag #CaptainKaVaccineGhotala.

On Friday, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the Punjab government got over 1.40 lakh doses of Covaxin at Rs 400 each and alleged that they gave some of the vaccines to 20 private hospitals at Rs 1,000 each.

“It’s dangerous news… The state government wants to make a profit from the vaccination. What kind of government is this?” he told a press conference here at the BJP headquarters.

Javadekar also attacked Rahul Gandhi on the issue, saying the Wayanad MP should first consider how to set things right in place in the state ruled by his party before giving lectures to others.

On Friday, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Singh Bajwa wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh demanding an inquiry into the allegation.

Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu orders a probe

Bajwa urged the CM to open an inquiry into this and ensure “architects of this callous policy” are held responsible by the government and strong action be taken against them.

Later, the state government asked the private hospitals to return all stock with Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu ordering a probe into the allegations.

This came after opposition parties – Shiromani Akali Dal, Aam Aadmi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party –cornered the Congress government over the issue.

The Centre also wrote to the state government seeking clarification over the sale of vaccines.