Ahmedabad, May 17: Senior Indian National Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel on Saturday questioned the Gujarat government for "reducing" the COVID-19 tests in Ahmedabad, which has become the epicentre of infection in the state. Replying to Congress leader's tweet, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that the testing is not decreasing the state and advised him to "recheck" his sources. Catch all the live news and updates related to the coronavirus outbreak in India and other parts of the world.

“Why is Gujarat government reducing testing? This is very disturbing & is contrary to national policy of increasing tests. In a pandemic, it is important to be honest about the problem rather than trying to conceal it," Patel tweeted. He also attached a graph which showed the number of tests in Ahmedabad decreased from 2,522 on May 1 to 1,240 on May 14, 2020. COVID-19 Live Tracker: Map The Spread of Coronavirus in All States of India.

Ahmed Patel Tweet:

Hitting back, CM Rupani tweeted a table of total tests conducted in Gujarat, as well as in Surat, Ahmedabad and Vadodara districts till May 16. "Mr. AHMED PATEL, Gujarat has not at all decreased number of tests. Kindly recheck your information sources which are far away from facts and ground realities," he said in his tweet.

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani Tweet:

Replying to Gujarat Chief Minister, Patel tweeted: "Mr CM, 1)Gujarati culture doesn’t permit me to use the tone u have used 2)My source is ur govt data:http://gujcovid19.gujarat.gov.in Either u or ur govt is wrong, someone must resign? 3)Stop hiding behind no of cumulative tests, how many tests have been conducted per day in last 15 days?"

Ahmed Patel Tweet:

As of Sunday morning, the COVID-19 cases in Gujarat has crossed 10,000- mark. The total cases in the state have reached 10,988, according to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. So far, 625 deaths have been reported in the state, while 4308 people have been recovered.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2020 01:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).