New Delhi, May 5 (IANS): Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has accused the government of lying on the oxygen shortage in the country.

Chidambaram said on Wednesday, "Government is maintaining the lie that there is no shortage of oxygen. Everyday, there are true life stories of hundreds of people desperately trying to find oxygen cylinders for their near and dear ones."

"I have a story, my friends have many stories. Indian Youth Congress had a great true life story on May 1. An intolerant Minister S. Jaishankar was quick to resort to abuse, but records and Facebook posts called his bluff. Why do otherwise intelligent ministers become bhakts?" he said.

The ex Minister was referring to the incident of New Zealand High Commission.

The Delhi government on Tuesday cornered the Central government over the allocation of medical oxygen to the national capital, saying it received only 433 metric tonne (MT) oxygen on Monday against its requirement of 976 MT – which comes to 44 per cent of the requisite amount to mitigate the crisis.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Raghav Chadha said that 41 hospitals in the national capital sent SOS calls for oxygen on Monday through various mediums, including social media, phone calls and helplines.