Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the government's approach to combating the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Gandhi heaped scorn on Modi's recent tweets on the use of his social media accounts.
Gandhi alleged Modi was "playing the clown" when India is facing an “emergency”.
Gandhi tweeted, "Quit wasting India's time playing the clown with your social media accounts, when India is facing an emergency. Focus the attention of every Indian on taking on the Coronavirus challenge."
Earlier on Tuesday, Gandhi tweeted that a "A true leader would be completely focused on averting the massive crisis about to be unleashed by the virus on India and its economy..."
To buttress his point, Gandhi shared a video of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressing his country's citizens on February 8. In the video, Loong describes the similarities and differences between SARS and coronavirus. Loong released the video for citizens to “take courage" amid the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak and "see through this stressful time together".
The angry response from Gandhi comes after government officials isolated multiple people in Agra and closed a school in Noida after a man in Delhi tested positive for novel coronavirus on Monday. Another person in Hyderabad was tested positive for novel coronavirus on Monday.
On Tuesday, Modi tweeted he "had an extensive review regarding preparedness on the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. Different ministries and states are working together, from screening people arriving in India to providing prompt medical attention".
On Monday, when Modi tweeted that he was thinking of giving up his social media accounts on March 8, Gandhi tweeted he should give up hatred. On Tuesday, Modi revealed he would give control of his social media accounts to “women who inspire us” on the occasion of International Women's Day, which falls on March 8.
