NEW DELHI: Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath on Sunday alleged that the Modi government delayed preventive measures against coronavirus only to ensure that his government was toppled in Bhopal, underlining that the lockdown was announced hours after Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as chief minister last month.“What started on March 4 culminated on March 23 when Chouhan took oath and the prime minister on March 24 announced the lockdown. It was delayed to bring down the MP government of Congress,” he said.He said it was the reason why coronavirus had spread wide in the country and why MP was the worst hit with over 46 health department officials, including the principal secretary, health, testing positive for the pandemic.Addressing a Congress press conference, Nath said, “Chronology of events prove that it is not rocket science to understand why measures like lockdown were delayed.” He added that Rahul Gandhi had urged the government to get cracking as early as on February 12.Nath said the MP assembly speaker announced adjournment of the House on March 16 for 10 days because of coronavirus while his government had started taking strong steps against the pandemic. But the Centre refused to adjourn Parliament lest it justified the assembly’s decision, he added.The Congress leader said putting politics before the pandemic had cost the country a lot and the true picture of the spread of the virus had not emerged because of limited testing focused in urban areas. He said the Centre was making excuses for shortage of preventive gear and testing kits but one should look at when the orders for these equipment were placed. “Those who gave the orders first would be delivered first,” he argued.Nath said the Chouhan government was working without a cabinet or a health minister or a home minister in such critical times, calling it abdication of responsibility by BJP.