Rahul Gandhi alleges govt hiding Covid deaths, urges people to demand universal free vaccination
New Delhi, Jun 3: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Wednesday accused the Central government of "hiding" the actual coronavirus death figures, even as he urged people to raise their voice for universal free vaccination.
"GOI is hiding actual Covid deaths," he said in a tweet, tagging a media report that conducted a survey on who people thought were responsible for coronavirus deaths.
Gandhi also launched a campaign to pressure the government for universal free vaccination in the country.
"Vaccine is the strongest protection against the corona pandemic. You should also raise your voice for providing free vaccination to the people of the country - wake up the central government," he said on Twitter, using the hashtag #SpeakUpForFreeUniversalVaccination.
He also shared a video highlighting the shortage of vaccines.
His sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also tweeted for universal free vaccination and slammed the government over a "confused and dithering" vaccination program.
"We are one of the biggest vaccine-manufacturers in the world. Yet only 3.4% of our population is fully vaccinated. Who is responsible for India's confused and dithering vaccination program," she asked in the tweet.
She said that on August 15 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared that there was a plan in place to vaccinate every Indian. But it is now mid-2021, and the country's inoculation rate is just 1.9 million people per day, whereas "we need 7 to 8 million people to be vaccinated per day to achieve that target", she said.
"The Centre first took all responsibility, after that as the 2nd wave hit it started to abdicate responsibility to the states. Other federal countries like Germany and the USA have followed a completely different process, where the Centre has procured the vaccines and distributed it to states," she asked in a video tagged in the tweet.
"Why did the Modi government not do so?"
The Congress has been critical of the government's handling of the pandemic and has slammed the vaccination policy.
The party has also been demanding free vaccination for all and has urged the Centre to procure jabs and provide them to states.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram questioned the government over delay in giving approval to foreign-made vaccines.
"Our suspicion that the govt had not approved any vaccine other than Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik has been proved correct. Why did govt go through the charade of negotiating quantities with Pfizer & Moderna without first giving Emergency Use Approval (EUA) to their vaccines?
"Why has it taken 8-9 months for the government to decide to give approval when the U.S. and other countries had granted approval? Remember, Dr Manmohan Singh had made this specific suggestion in his letter which got a rude reply from the Union Health Minister!" he said in a series of tweets.
GOI is hiding actual Covid deaths.https://t.co/XDmOzsNuFY
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 2, 2021
We are one of the biggest vaccine manufacturers in the world. Yet only 3.4% of our population is fully vaccinated.
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) June 2, 2021
Who is responsible for India’s confused and dithering vaccination program?#SpeakUpForFreeUniversalVaccination pic.twitter.com/9JRgc1QSIo
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
