India's Covid death numbers 'suspect', says P Chidambaram
New Delhi, Mar 3: Citing the academic journal Science, Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday said the official number of deaths due to COVID-19 in the country is suspect.
The reputed journal estimates that the Covid toll in India between "1-6-2020 and 1-7-2021 was 3,200,000 - eight times the official death toll of 400,000", Chidambaram said on Twitter.
"Of these deaths, 2,700,000 occurred in the months of April, May and June 2021," he added.
The former Union minister said India has 638,365 villages.
"The Government's figures suggest that the average number of deaths per village was less than one! Unbelievable!
"Add the number of deaths in towns and cities. The official number is suspect," the Congress leader said.
The death toll has climbed to 5,14,388 with 142 more people succumbing to the disease, according to Health Ministry data on Thursday.
The Congress has been alleging much higher deaths in the country due to Covid and demanding that there be a fresh survey of deaths.
India has 638,365 villages. The Government’s figures suggest that the average number of deaths per village was less than one! Unbelievable!
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 3, 2022
Add the number of deaths in towns and cities. The official number is suspect
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
