Powered by
Sponsored by

India's COVID-19 death rate a lie: Rahul; urges govt to come clean, step up vaccination

PM Modi works like an event manager, says Congress leader in scathing criticism

rahul gandhi bengal pti Rahul Gandhi addresses a public meeting for the West Bengal Assembly polls, at Goalpokhar in Uttar Dinajpur district | PTI

Hitting out against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government's handling of the COVID crisis in India, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said India's COVID-19 death rate was a lie and asked the government to come clean on the numbers. "India's death rate is a lie. The government should tell the truth," Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said. The Congress leader's statements came a day after the Centre on Thursday dismissed as "completely baseless" a recent New York Times report on COVID-19 toll in India, saying it is not backed by any evidence.

The report titled "Just how big could India's true Covid toll be" estimated 600,000 deaths due to the infection in the country in a conservative scenario, 1.6 million estimated deaths in a more likely scenario and 4.2 million estimated deaths in a worse scenario. However, the Centre trashed the report saying it was "completely baseless and absolutely false and not backed on any evidence."

Gandhi further said that the PM's 'nautanki' was the reason behind the second wave of COVID-19 in India. "He did not understand COVID19. He is an event manager; thinks one event at a time," Gandhi said.

He further urged the government to accept criticism and work towards increasing vaccination in the country. "The only way to stop corona is to remove the space within which it spreads. With just 3 per cent of the population vaccinated, a more devastating third wave will happen. The tragedy is the government doesn't understand the nature of the fight here. It's busy fighting the opposition," Rahul said. 

"We had warned the government of India about COVID-19 repeatedly. Later, PM Modi had expressed India's victory against COVID-19. This is an evolving disease. Lockdowns and wearing of masks is a temporary solution, but vaccine is a permanent solution to COVID," the Gandhi scion further noted. 



📣 The Week is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TheWeekmagazine) and stay updated with the latest headlines