A joke on COVID-19 victims, betrayal of citizens: Rahul Gandhi on 'positivity' push by RSS

Hitting out at the RSS and its affiliates over the attempts to push 'positivity', even as the nation has been ravaged by the second wave of the COVID-19, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi termed it a joke on health workers and families who lost loved ones.

The Congress leader was referring to a programme, 'Positivity Unlimited', a series of online lectures being coordinated by the 'Covid Response Team', an organisation formed by the RSS and various affiliates and civil society groups. Speakers of this series include Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, and Wipro founder Azim Premji  among others.

“The false assurance of positive thinking is a joke on health workers and families of those who have lost their loved ones, and people who are suffering due to lack of oxygen, hospitals and medicines. Burying one's head in the sand is not positivity, it is a betrayal of our citizens,” the Congress said in a tweet in Hindi.

An NDTV report had said the BJP, RSS and the Centre have devised a strategy to push for 'positivity' amid mounting criticism of the Centre's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. On Monday, the official Twitter handle of 'Mann Ki Baat', Modi's monthly monologue, sought suggestions from people on inspiring stories that would "celebrate the power of positivity and the strengths of 130 crore Indians!"

The Union ministers have been vehemently countering any criticism that comes on the government's way, besides tweeting about the efforts of the government to battle the pandemic, including the movement of Oxygen express.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is set to address the five-day  'Positivity Unlimited' series on May 15. The talks will be available on over 100 media platforms, including the Facebook and YouTube pages of the Vishwa Samwad Kendra, the RSS's communications arm. On Tuesday, yoga guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and Jain Muni Shree Pramansagar delivered lectures.