Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday said that only an “insensitive government” like that of Chief Minister Adityanath can claim there was no shortage of oxygen in Uttar Pradesh, even as authorities scrambled to get supplies while Covid-19 patients lay dying outside hospitals.

“Just try to place yourself in the place of those patients who are told that they will not get admission due to lack of oxygen. Oxygen is low, take the patient,” Gandhi wrote on Twitter. “What should be the punishment for lying to the public during this crisis?”

The Congress leader posted clippings of news reports on Adityanath who on Saturday claimed there was no shortage of oxygen in any private or public Covid hospital in Uttar Pradesh. “Only an insensitive government will give such a statement,” she said.

Gandhi also posted a clipping of a report by The Hindu, which said that Adityanath has asked officials to take action under the National Security Act and seize the property of individuals who “spread rumours” and propaganda on social media about the oxygen crisis.

Adityanath had allegedly claimed that hospitals in Uttar Pradesh were trying to “create fear” by talking about the scarcity of oxygen, according to The Hindu. The report said that he had instructed state officials to take action against such incidents. “Keep a watch on such people,” he said in an official statement. “If the scarcity was reported just to create fear, then strict action should be taken against the concerned hospital.”

Gandhi deplored Adityanath’s statements. “Chief Minister, there is oxygen emergency all over Uttar Pradesh,” she said. “You have to put a case on me, seize the property, so do. But for the sake of God, recognise the seriousness of the situation.”

There have been multiple reports about oxygen shortages in Uttar Pradesh, with patients saying they were turned away by hospitals as they had no beds or oxygen left to treat them. Distressing visuals also showed a patient dying on an auto-rickshaw after failing to find oxygen or an ambulance in Varanasi.

But Adityanath claimed that hospitals were lying about shortages to instill fear in the public. Saying that the actual problem is “black-marketing and hoarding”, the chief minister told journalists that the state government will conduct an audit of the life-saving gas in collaboration with various institutes, according to PTI.