‘Congress leaders fuelled vaccine hesitancy’: Harsh Vardhan hits back at Manmohan

A day after former prime minister Manmohan Singh wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the COVID-19 situation, the Centre has hit back.

In his letter, Manmohan Singh had argued for the vaccination programme to be ramped up to cope with the surge in COVID-19 cases.

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday used Twitter to share a letter he had written to Manmohan Singh. Harsh Vardhan used Twitter to troll Manmohan. Harsh Vardhan tweeted, "History shall be kinder to you Dr Manmohan Singh ji if your offer of ‘constructive cooperation’ and valuable advice was followed by your @INCIndia leaders as well in such extraordinary times!" Harsh Vardhan was apparently referring to Manmohan Singh's famous remarks made in an interview in early 2014. Amid considerable criticism of the performance of his government and the perception he was a "weak" prime minister, Manmohan had told The Hindu in January 2014, "I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the opposition parties in Parliament."

Harsh Vardhan also claimed Manmohan Singh's suggestions in the letter had been implemented by the Modi government a week ago and took a jibe at Manmohan. Harsh Vardhan tweeted, "In all humility, a word of advice to you as well, Dr Manmohan Singh ji ! A learned man of your stature could do well to surround himself with better advisors. All suggestions given by you have been implemented a week prior to your letter. PS : There's value in staying updated!"

In his response letter, Harsh Vardhan claimed India had launched the world's biggest vaccination drive and had "became the fastest in the world to reach the milestones of 10, 11 and 12 crore administered doses".

Harsh Vardhan noted Manmohan's advice "to not get tempted to go by absolute numbers, but to go by percentage of population covered, is not incorrect." While acknowledging Manmohan's views on importance of vaccines, Harsh Vardhan claimed Congress leaders and figures in state governments headed by the party did not share such views.

Harsh Vardhan asked Manmohan "Shouldn't it be a matter of pride that India is perhaps the only developing country to have two vaccines?"

Harsh Vardhan alleged senior members of the Congress are "yet to utter a word of gratitude towards our scientist community and vaccine manufacturers". Harsh Vardhan alleged Congress leaders and state governments had fuelled "vaccine hesitancy" and were "playing with the lives of our countrymen".

Harsh Vardhan claimed some Congress leaders "shamed the vaccines in public but took their doses in private". Harsh Vardhan added "irresponsible" statements from some such leaders had resulted in "below-national average vaccination coverage" of senior citizens and even front-line workers in some Congress-ruled states.