BJP ministers latch on to party sympathiser to counter Opposition's demand on Covid-19 vaccine

On demands to stop work on the redevelopment of Central Vista, Mishra said the project was ongoing and sanctioned before the pandemic

Union Ministers have latched on to comments by a BJP sympathiser to hit out at the “hollowness and hypocrisy of the opposition”, which issued a joint appeal to procure vaccines centrally and begin free vaccination.

“A nice thread of tweets one must read, exposing the inherent contradictions, hypocrisy and hollowness of the opposition,” Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said referring to a point-by-point rebuttal by Akhilesh Mishra, who heads a communications firm that works closely with the government.

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Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani also made similar references on Twitter to the tweets by Mishra.

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Mishra had claimed that the joint letter by 12 Opposition leaders to Prime Minister Narendra Modi contradicted the stands taken by the political parties earlier. He said Rahul Gandhi and several Congress leaders had asked the Centre to allow state governments greater say in the procurement of vaccines, including the open market sale of vaccines at marginally higher prices.

“Problem with the joint letter by opposition politicians is that no one knows when to take these 'leaders' seriously? For they recommended one thing one day and do a complete U-turn the next day. So which suggestion to accept? And when,” said Mishra, who was associated with Modi’s 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign.

Read more: Covid-19 positive should defer vaccination by 6 months: Govt panel

On demands to stop work on the redevelopment of Central Vista, he said the project was ongoing and sanctioned before the pandemic. “But what about new assembly building in Chhattisgarh in middle of pandemic? Or MLA hostel in Maharashtra? That is fine,” Mishra asked.

On the Opposition's demand for the distribution of free food grains to the poor, he said the government had already expanded the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.

BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya also referred to Mishra when it came to countering the letter by 12 Opposition leaders, including four chief ministers.