Colossal mismanagement: Congress on Modi's Covid response

Gandhi set the ball rolling with scathing criticism of the PM for maintaining a 'thundering silence'

Congress on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for campaigning for the West Bengal elections instead of staying back in the national capital to coordinate the country’s response to Covid-19.

In a 14-point chargesheet against the Modi government, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), at a meeting chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi, slammed the prime minister for “colossal mismanagement” of the fight against Covid-19.

Gandhi set the ball rolling with scathing criticism of the Prime Minister for maintaining a “thundering silence” to demands from opposition ruled states for supply of vaccines, oxygen and ventilators and unleashing union ministers to attack opposition leaders giving suggestions for effective Covid-19 response.

“He (Modi) should be in Delhi fighting the war instead of addressing rallies. Is this the time to hold large rallies,” senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said briefing reporters about the deliberations at the CWC.

He said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be writing a letter to the Prime Minister on Sunday making suggestions for the war against Covid-19 based on the deliberations at the two-and-a-half-hour long CWC meeting.

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In a statement, the CWC faulted the Modi government on 14 counts, including failing to create sufficient awareness that a waning pandemic could be a precursor to a second wave, failure to scale up supply of two approved vaccines, failure to universalise vaccination and failing to provide adequate funds to state governments despite accumulating hundreds of crores of funds in the “opaque” PM-CARES Fund.

“We regret to say that the nation is paying a very heavy price for the thoughtlessness and unpreparedness of the NDA government to tackle the gravest disaster that has hit the country,” the CWC statement said.

The Congress President also lashed out at the Centre’s decision to export vaccines at a time when the country was facing severe shortages of the shots.

“How is boasting about our generosity to other countries going to help the thousands of our people who are dying,” she said.

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi said the government has shut down all the warning systems that could have alerted the citizens on the gravity of the pandemic.

“We are in the middle of the ocean in a storm and not the ship has no idea where to go,” Rahul said during the meeting.

The CWC asked the party’s state units to set up helplines and control rooms to help the needy who were suffering.

The Congress President asked the government to reconsider its priority for vaccine candidates by reducing the immunisation age to 25 years and above as also all younger persons with at-risk health disorders like asthma, angina, diabetes and kidney and liver diseases.

She also suggested that as a preliminary measure, all equipment, instruments, medicines and support required to prevent and treat Covid-19 should be made free from GST.