Jaya claims 232 victims due to Chikungunya

Chennai, Sep 20 (UNI) Even as the Tamil Nadu Government asserted that Chikungunya was not a fatal disease, Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa today claimed 232 people have died due to the disease.

Responding to state Electricity Minister Arcot N Veerasamy's poser, asking her to produce the list of the deceased, Ms Jayalalithaa released the list of 232 victims said to have died due to the disease in the state.

In a statement here, she said because of the disease spread by the acdes mosquito lakhs of mandays were lost and poor people could not go for the work in the state and alleged that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was not showing any concern for the people.

''Both the Chief Minister and the Health Minister have told the Assembly that no loss of life had occurred in the state due to Chikungunya,'' she recalled and charged the Government with failing to tackle the spread of the disease.

Ms Jayalalithaa claimed the deaths were registered in the Government hospitals as ''due to fever'' and not as Chikungunya, since the Government had announced that there were no such (chickungunya) deaths in the state.

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