Nadda writes to Sonia Gandhi, slams the Congress over COVID-19
What's the story
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda today wrote a letter to his Congress party counterpart, Sonia Gandhi, over the COVID-19 crisis in India.
Nadda maintained that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government is leading a "proactive" fight against the pandemic and criticized the Congress for contributing to vaccine hesitancy and "misleading" the people.
Here are more details on this.
Details
'Writing this letter with a deep sense of pain'
"I am writing this letter with a deep sense of pain," Nadda wrote in the four-page letter, as he listed out the various measures the Modi government has taken to strengthen the fight against the coronavirus.
Notably, the letter came just a day after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) blamed the government's "indifference, insensitivity, and incompetence" in handling the catastrophic COVID-19 crisis in India.
Quote
'Are your actions weakening the fight against COVID-19?'
"You must ask yourselves - in times as these, is your party's conduct weakening the morale of these COVID warriors? Deliberately or otherwise, are your actions trying to weaken this fight against COVID-19?" an excerpt from Nadda's letter read.
Letter
Congress leaders creating 'false panic,' says Nadda
In his letter, Nadda accused senior members of the Congress of "misleading people, creating false panic and even contradicting the stands on the vaccination policy."
He said these leaders ridiculed India's indigenous coronavirus vaccine and their words contributed to vaccine hesitancy among the Indian masses.
He further highlighted that states with BJP-led governments have already announced free vaccines for citizens.
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'The India-made vaccine belongs to the nation'
"The COVID-19 vaccines made in India do not belong to any political party or leader - they belong to the nation. Yet the Congress did not do the right thing instead did the wrong politics (sic)," Nadda said.
Criticism
Rahul Gandhi's conduct 'will be remembered for pettiness': Nadda
Nadda went on to allege that the conduct of top Congress leaders including former chief Rahul Gandhi "will be remembered for duplicity and pettiness."
He pointed out the grand old party had earlier opposed lockdown but is now actively calling for the same.
He also accused the Congress of supporting protests and participating in election rallies even when coronavirus cases were on the rise.
Central Vista
Nadda also addressed the issue of the Central Vista project
The Congress has been critical of the Central Vista project, which is currently underway in Delhi.
In that context, Nadda wrote, "I would like to remind you that the need for a new Parliament was raised as early as UPA times...People are also contrasting the Congress's stand on Central Vista with the Chhattisgarh government going ahead to build a new Assembly complex."
Crisis
India's coronavirus crisis
India is currently facing the world's worst coronavirus outbreak, reporting lakhs of new infections every day for the past few weeks.
The Modi government has been severely criticized by Opposition parties and science experts for not entertaining warnings on time and even going ahead with potential super-spreader events like massive election rallies.
India is also facing shortages of medical equipment like oxygen and drugs.