Hummingbird News Desk
NEW DELHI, 11 MAY: BJP president J P Nadda on Tuesday accused the Congress of misleading people and creating false panic in the fight against Covid-19, and alleged that the conduct of its leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, during the pandemic will be remembered for “duplicity and pettiness”.
He also flung criticism of large election rallies held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi right back at the Congress leadership.
Mr Nadda wrote a four-page letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, a day after the Congress Working Committee, the apex body of the opposition party, hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government over the handling of the coronavirus crisis.
“Your party, under your leadership, is doing no favours to itself by opposing lockdowns and then demanding for the same (sic), ignoring the Centre’s advisories on the second wave of Covid and then saying they did not get any information, holding massive election rallies in Kerala causing a spike in Covid cases while grandstanding about election rallies elsewhere, supporting protests but speaking about following Covid guidelines,” Mr Nadda wrote.
“Even when the second wave was on the rise, your party leaders were happier being seen in super spreader political events in north India, where there was no regard for masks or social distancing. This is not the era when such information can be erased from public memory,” he said.
Hitting back at the Congress over the CWC criticism that the Centre had abdicated its responsibility on the vaccination and left the matter to states, Nadda wondered if there is so much gap between the party and its leaders in power in some states as he noted that its top functionaries in April had called for decentralisation of the inoculation programme.
“The COVID-19 vaccine made in India does not belong to any political party or leader – it belongs to the nation. Yet the Congress party could not do the right thing, instead only did the wrong politics,” he wrote.
He also said the Centre has so far distributed 16 crore vaccines to states and 50 per cent of them are being provided even now free of cost, he said, and asked Gandhi if the states where her party is in power will also give free jabs to people as those ruled by the BJP and its allies have done.
The Modi government has engaged with all stakeholders, including chief Ministers, in fighting the pandemic and former prime minister Deve Gowda has also acknowledged that, he said.
He charged Congress with manipulating the minds of many Indians by mocking “Made-in-India” Covaxin and creating doubts in the minds of people.
“In a nation that has almost no recent history of vaccine hesitancy, your party has the dubious record of trying to actively create it, that too in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic,” the BJP president said.
Mr Nadda also criticized opposition to what he called a “New trend in the Congress party” – to put all blame on the Central Vista project.
On the need for a new parliament, Mr Nadda said, “I would like to remind you that the need for a new Parliament was raised as early as the UPA times. Former Speaker, respected Meira Kumar Ji herself underscored the need for a new Parliament building. The Union Urban Development Minister has addressed a large number of other queries regarding the project. Yet, Congress does not believe in facts. People are also contrasting the Congress’ stand on Central Vista with the Chhattisgarh Government going ahead to build a new assembly complex.
He signed off the letter by saying, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s fight against COVID is driven by an unwavering belief in principles of science, support to innovation, trust in our COVID warriors, and cooperative federalism. I assure you that the Government of India will continue being proactive so that we defeat the virus and get ahead with economic as well as social empowerment.”