Cong misleading people on Covid-19, Nadda tells Sonia

: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda on Tuesday wrote a letter to his Congress counterpart, Sonia Gandhi, asking her and the party including its chief ministers to stop “misleading people, creating false panic” over the Covid-19 pandemic and contradictory stands on the vaccination policy.

The letter came a day after the Congress Working Committee on Monday passed a resolution calling the second Covid-19 wave a “grave calamity and direct consequence of the Modi government’s indifference, insensitivity, and incompetence.”

Nadda, in his four-page response to Gandhi, accused Congress leaders of contributing to vaccine hesitancy.

“Vaccine that is made in India should be a matter of national pride. Instead, Congress leaders tried to ridicule it and create doubts... Even the chief ministers belonging to your party indulged in such antics. In a nation that has almost no recent history of vaccine hesitancy, your party has the dubious record of trying to actively create [it], that too, in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic,” the letter said. “The Congress Working Committee talks about the Modi government ‘abdicating’ its responsibility on vaccination. Is there so much of a communication gap between the Congress party and the states it shares powers in? In April itself, topmost Congress leaders were calling for decentralisation of vaccination.”

The drug regulator’s approval of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin came in for criticism from various quarters because it was done without even interim data being made available.

The data, available several months on, did show the vaccine to be highly effective.

Nadda defended the vaccination policy and said it had already ensured considerable coverage in priority groups by providing at least 160 million vaccines to states in the first two phases.

There has been a slew of complaints from states about the deficiencies in the vaccination programme, the lack of vaccines, and their differential pricing for those above 18.

It has also become clear that India does not have enough vaccines to meet the demand, even by the Union government’s own admission. However, most manufacturers have already committed supplies for several months.

Nadda said that BJP-ruled states have announced their resolve to help the poor and underprivileged by providing vaccines for free.

“I am sure that the Congress governments in various states also feel strongly for the poor, can they also come out with a similar decision to provide vaccines for free?” Punjab, Rajasthan, and Chattisgarh, all governed by Congress have announced that they will provide vaccines free to those in the 18-44 years age group. Maharashtra, where the Congress is part of the ruling MVA alliance has also announced free vaccines for those in the same age group.

However, most states (including BJP ruled ones) have been scrambling to source vaccines amid inadequate supply.

The Congress hit back at Nadda over the letter, with party general secretary Ajay Maken saying: “When the Congress is trying to play the role of a responsible opposition, the ruling party president writes a letter that smacks of usual arrogance. This is shameful.”