Cong flays govt over handling of Covid-19

NEWDELHI: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s sustained attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government on their handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and Chinese transgressions in Ladakh came in for praise from the party’s Lok Sabha members at a virtual meeting on Saturday, people familiar with the developments said.

The leadership issue also resonated at the meeting, chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, with many members demanding that Rahul Gandhi should once again assume the reins of the party, a Member of Parliament (MP) said on condition of anonymity.

“It was decided that members would take the issues raised by Rahul Gandhi to the people in their respective constituencies over the Centre’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the India-china border standoff,” the MP said. Of the 52 Congress MPS in the Lok Sabha, 41 spoke at the meeting in which the issues that came up for discussion included the pandemic, the impact of Covid-19 lockdown and Chinese transgressions.

Rahul Gandhi once again highlighted the alleged failures of the government in tackling Covid-19 and its handling of the lockdown.

A Lok Sabha MP from Kerala said Rahul Gandhi also said the “impact of lockdown on the economy will be huge” but the government does not have a plan to bring the economy back on track. On China, he alleged the PM had been lying to the people, this person said. Rahul Gandhi also targeted the PM CARES Fund and asked for the government to be transparent about its funding, people at the meeting said.

Sonia Gandhi said the government is not convening Parliament and shying away from important questions on critical matters.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the statements praising the Gandhis are scripted. “The party is divided into two camps, those who support the party and those who support the family. So these scripted statements are being made,” he said. On questions being raised by the Congress on the standoff with China and the PM CARES fund, Hussain said the Opposition has no issues to raise, and, therefore, is creating controversies.