Modi responsible for second wave, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being responsible for the second wave of COVID-19, and warned of a number of such waves if the Union authorities didn’t evolve an efficient vaccination coverage.

Also learn: Rahul Gandhi slams Modi authorities on excessive value of vaccines

Mr. Gandhi, who was addressing a digital press convention, alleged that the COVID-19 mortality figures put out by the Centre have been “big lies”. Though Mr. Modi was frightened about his picture, “it is gone; it’s dead”.

In the battle in opposition to the pandemic, the nation wanted a method and vaccination was the one everlasting resolution. Lockdown was a short lived resolution nevertheless it introduced ache and advantages in equal measure, he mentioned.

The Prime Minister and his authorities haven’t but “understood that corona isn’t just a disease but an evolving disease that gets more dangerous if it is given time and space to spread”, he said.

Mr. Gandhi additionally accused the federal government of shutting down the suggestions and knowledge system. The strain in opposition to social media corporations corresponding to Twitter and Facebook needs to be seen in that context, he noticed.

“Mr. Modi is responsible for the second wave of COVID-19; it’s a result of his ‘nautanki’ [theatrics] and lack of his responsibility. It’s time for him to be a leader, display leadership skills and show courage and not come out with excuses and blame others,” he mentioned.

‘There is no strategy’

“The problem is there is no strategy. The Prime Minister doesn’t think strategically. He is an event manager. He thinks one event at a time. You don’t need events now as events will kill people, you need a strategy. The aim of the strategy should be to shut the space for corona,” he famous.

With solely 3 % of India’s inhabitants absolutely vaccinated and 97 % doubtlessly uncovered to the virus, the state of affairs was alarming not simply to the nation however a ‘liability’ to all the planet. As the virus mutated very quick, there may come a time when even vaccines will not be as efficient as they have been now. If 50-60 per cent of India’s inhabitants was vaccinated, then the specter of a 3rd wave would significantly subside and positively gained’t be a fourth or fifth wave, he mentioned.

“You are the Prime Minister, the buck stops with you,” Mr. Gandhi mentioned, including, “Did Chhattisgarh export vaccines? No, the Prime Minister of India exported vaccines. Because, he fundamentally misunderstood what is going on”.

The authorities might imagine that their combat in opposition to coronavirus concerned a combat with its political rivals as effectively, however the Opposition events have been really a warning system. “The tragedy is that the government is not understanding the nature of what they are fighting. The government is under the impression that they are fighting the Opposition. When it comes to corona, we are on the government’s side,” he identified.

Post the press convention, Mr. Gandhi tweeted, “Bring the country together. Shut the space for viral space. Stop the lies. Vaccinate extensively”.