Even as India continues to register record number of COVID-19 deaths and cases, Narendra Taneja, a BJP spokesperson, admitted that the government is responsible for the devastating second wave.
In an interview to the CNN, he said, "We are in power, we are the government in India so of course responsibility is first and foremost ours, good or bad, whatever it is. It is our responsibility and we are trying our very level best."
"We don't want to blame anybody. We know we are in power, we are responsible.. .our focus is now on how we can save lives." he was quoted as saying.
India reported more than 66 lakh coronavirus cases in April, making it the worst month of the pandemic, and the total number of new cases recorded during the month is equivalent to what was earlier witnessed in over six months, showing the enormity of the second wave of COVID-19. Eleven states—Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Bihar—cumulatively account for 78.18 per cent of the active cases in the country.
The country is also facing a roadblock in its vaccination drive as many states clarified that they would not be able to go ahead with the planned third phase of vaccination for people in the 18-44 age group owing to lack of supply.
Taneja, however, claimed the crisis could not have been foreseen. "Evidently something went wrong, evidently we were hit by a tsunami, and as you know, you are often not aware. In most cases 80-90 per cent reasons could be external. We don't know. We don't want to blame anybody," he said.
Justifying the huge poll rallies held by the saffron party, he said the party did not have an option but go along with the election process that was decided by the Election Commission. He, however, admitted that the huge public rallies sent out the message to people that the threats posed by the pandemic was over. "... that was a bit unfortunate, but as I said, that was not in the hands of the government," he was quoted as saying.
—With PTI inputs
