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Attacking the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said here on Friday that instead of understanding and fighting Covid-19, the BJP is trying to fight with the Opposition. He said the Centre ignored the warnings of experts and the Opposition and allowed the situation to get worsened resulting in the death of thousands of people. He held Modi and his Government responsible for the deaths of people in the second wave of Covid-19.
Gandhi said Modi and the Government do not have any understanding of the disease "It is important to understand that Corona is not a simple disease. It is an evolving disease, it changes, it transforms. And the only way to stop Corona is to remove the space within which it moves. Do not give it time to move," he told reporters addressing a press conference over video conferencing.
He said Modi, by addressing huge rallies and meetings without even wearing mask gave wrong message to people. He said apart from the temporary ways to fight the virus such as wearing masks and imposing lockdowns, the Centre should take the vaccination seriously to find a permanent solution for Covid-19.
Permanent solution
"When we get rid of the lockdown, the virus will start to evolve. The only permanent way of fighting the virus is vaccinations. It is important to understand, the more time you give the virus, the more likely it is to mutate and defeat our vaccine," Gandhi added.
He urged the Centre to talk to Opposition ruled States for evolving a joint strategy against the pandemic and for the vaccination of all people. "The tragedy is that the Government does not understand 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 said.
He requested Modi to understand the dangers of the mutation of this virus for the benefit of not only to India but to the rest of the world. "You are creating a liability for the whole planet. Why? Because you are allowing 97 per cent of the population to be attacked by Corona," he said. He justified using the term 'Movid' for Covid and said Modi cannot shift his responsibility for the deaths in the second wave of Covid-19.
"Only three per cent Indians have been vaccinated. Half of America is vaccinated, 8-10 per cent of Brazil is vaccinated. What are you doing? You (Modi and his Government) are helping the virus," he said.
He said there are multiple, different prices for vaccination. "Different people paying different things, speculation going on for vaccines. At what cost?," he said. "I am again requesting the Government. Get your vaccination strategy in order, do not give the virus the space to mutate. It is going to kill again. Lockdown is a temporary solution," he added.
BJP hits out
Responding to the charges levelled by Gandhi, senior BJP leader and Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Congress is trying to create confusion and fear among the public. He said the Union Health Ministry has laid out a roadmap for producing 216 crore doses of vaccine by December to vaccinate 108 crore people. “It has been confirmed, and there is no need for any evidence. It is clear that the toolkit was produced by you. The kind of language you used and the way you tried to stoke confusion and fear among people is part of that politics,” accused Javadekar said.
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