The BJP on Friday lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Covid-19 vaccination programme, saying the kind of language the Congress leader used and the way he tried to stoke “fears” has confirmed that the “toolkit” was produced by his party. Speaking to reporters, senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar also cited recent remarks of the Health Ministry to assert that the inoculation exercise in India will be completed by December this year.
The ministry has given a roadmap about producing 216 crore doses by December and how 108 crore people will be vaccinated, he said. Gandhi’s choice of words like “nautanki” for the prime minister at a time when Modi is working to curb COVID-19 is part of the toolkit’s script, the minister alleged, referring to a controversial document about targeting the government.
Union minister and BJP MP from Deogarh, Dharmendra Pradhan, also hit out at the Congress leader, saying that his “mindless blabbering” was a waste of the internet bandwidth. “While the responsible citizens of India are using the precious internet bandwidth to keep the wheels of economy churning by working from their homes, the only tangible outcome of senseless, mindless and meaningless blabbering by Rahul Gandhi is the wastage of this precious resource,” Pradhan said in a tweet.
While the responsible citizens of India are using the precious internet bandwidth to keep the wheels of economy churning by working from their homes,the only tangible outcome of senseless, mindless & meaningless blabbering by @RahulGandhi is the wastage of this precious resource.— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) May 28, 2021
“When all the countries in the world are unitedly fighting the menace of Covid-19, we are still to see any visible signs of sense of responsibility from opposition parties, majority of which are nothing but family enterprises indulged in securing the future of their princes,” Pradhan said in a series of tweets.
The Union minister also accused Gandhi of not being able to accept a humble man like PM Narendra Modi leading the world’s largest democracy. “The heir presumptive of the fastest diminishing political family enterprise must realise that there is no point in repeatedly reminding the nation of his low IQ level and his feudal mindset which stops him in accepting a man of humble origin as the head of world’s largest democracy,” he said.
The BJP has claimed that the Congress is behind it, a charge the opposition party has rejected. It has instead blamed the BJP and sought police probe into the matter. “It has been confirmed, and there is no need for any evidence. It is clear that the toolkit was produced by you. The kind of language you used and the way you tried to stoke confusion and fear among people is part of that politics,” Javadekar said.
What Gandhi has said is an insult to the country and people, he added. With over 20 crore doses being administered so far, India is second in the world and the vaccination is set to see a big jump from August, he said, rebutting the Congress leader’s criticism about the alleged slow pace of the country’s inoculation programme.
The BJP leader said Gandhi should rather be concerned about the Congress-ruled states as they have not been able lift their quota from vaccine producers. Noting that Gandhi had stressed the importance of vaccination, he said this is what the government has been saying and working on from the beginning and cited the production of two vaccines in India.
When Covaxin was produced indigenously, Congress leaders created doubts about its safety while Modi put any such question to rest by opting for this jab, the minister said. Gandhi had earlier asked the government to evolve a vaccine strategy for the entire population, warning of multiple waves of the virus at the current rate of vaccination.
It was time Modi to be a leader and show that he can organise vaccines for everyone, he said, accusing the prime minister of not thinking strategically.
With inputs from PTI
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