Covid vaccine row: Piyush Goyal slams K’taka CM for insulting Indian scientists, drugmakers
New Delhi: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday criticised Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for suggesting a link between Covid-19 vaccines developed in India and the sudden deaths.
Speaking to the media, on the sidelines of IIT Madras Alumni Association’s Sangam 2025 event in Bengaluru, Piyush Goyal praised the Indian scientists for developing Covid vaccine in record time and the pharmaceutical sector for making it cost-effective.
“Fake narratives can’t dilute the extraordinary work done by our scientists and the pharma industry in our fight against Covid,” said Goyal.
“Such a big country like India was able to provide 250 crore vaccines for free, because the companies of our country had the strength to make the vaccine at a much lower cost,” he added.
His comments come in the wake of Siddaramaiah’s recent post on social media platform X on “the hasty approval and distribution of the Covid vaccine to the public”.
The CM linked it to the more than 20 heart attack-related deaths seen in Karnataka’s Hassan district in just 40 days.
The Union Health Ministry, along with several scientists as well as pharma associations, has denied any link between Covid vaccines and the reported sudden deaths.
A joint clarification from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) stated that ongoing surveillance and analyses have not revealed any significant deviation in patterns of cardiac-related deaths since before the pandemic.
“I feel that the Chief Minister here does not disrespect, he insults, and when he insults our scientists, our pharmacy, then I do not know what is the motive behind it?” Goyal said.
“Apologise to the Indian scientists and the pharmaceutical sector,” he added.
He also asked whether the CM and the Congress are working at the behest of foreign powers.
“Are these the foreign powers whose agenda they are running here, are the foreign powers who want to lure India’s pharmacy, are they troubled by India’s economic progress and development,” Goyal said.