NEW DELHI: Congress on Tuesday hit back at BJP chief J P Nadda for his letter to party president Sonia Gandhi accusing Rahul Gandhi of duplicity on the Covid-19 situation, saying the communication reeked of arrogance and denial and of the government’s complete failure in handling the coronavirus situation.
Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken refuted allegations of politicking made by Nadda in his letter to Sonia and said former PM Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Rahul had forwarded “constructive” suggestions to PM Narendra Modi as part of the opposition’s “raj dharma”.
While these suggestions were eventually endorsed by scientific journals like the Lancet and Nature, and bodies like the Indian Medical Association, they were disregarded by the Modi government, the letter said.
“What option do we have but to say the government abdicated its responsibility? I ask Naddaji whether he is calling all these journals and IMA, which comprises our country’s Covid warriors, politically motivated?” Maken asked.
Citing instances of dead bodies floating down the Ganga as a sign of how bad things were, Congress alleged the government failed to make preparations to fight the pandemic, but also did not assist vaccine manufacturers Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute, as submitted in the apex court.
“When Serum Institute sought Rs 3,000 crore from the Union government, the Modi government failed to extend help. As a result of this, we have reached a stage where vaccines are in short supply,” Maken said, alleging that at the current rate of vaccination, India would take three years and eight months to vaccinate all 90 crore adults.
Congress’s P Chidambaram cited a column by Nobel Prize winners Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo that referred to India’s Covid-19 problem as the world’s problem. “The authors are not Congress members. Their names may ring a bell in J P Nadda. Dr Abhijit Banerjee and Dr Esther Duflo, Nobel Prize winners,” he said.
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