'Time for central, state governments to wake up': Sonia Gandhi as India battles COVID surge
New Delhi, May 1: With India facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday urged the Centre to evolve a national policy to deal with the pandemic after bringing about a political consensus on it.
In a video message, she said it is time for the central and state governments to wake up and fulfil their duties.
Gandhi also said COVID-19 jabs should be provided free of cost to all citizens and sought compulsory licensing to ramp up vaccine production to speed up the country's inoculation drive to help save Indians.
"I urge the central government to evolve a national policy to deal with the COVID crisis in the country and a strategy to bring about a political consensus over it," the Congress president said.
She also said that the central government should "first think about the poor and provide them with Rs 6,000 each to the bank accounts of all to stop their migration, till the end of the pandemic".
Gandhi called for increasing testing and checking the black marketing of essential life-saving drugs besides providing oxygen, medicines and other equipment to hospitals on a war-footing.
The discrimination over vaccine pricing should end and black marketing of life-saving drugs be stopped and all industrial oxygen be provided to hospitals for medical purposes, she said.
The Congress chief said her party will stand with the Centre in the fight against the pandemic and appealed to all Indians to unite in these testing times.
She also prayed for the good health of all Indians during these challenging times of the pandemic and offered her heartfelt condolences to the lakhs of families who have lost their loved ones.
"Our country is facing the pandemic and lakhs of our citizens have been affected by coronavirus everyday. This crisis is the testing time for all of us and we have to hold each other's hands, support each other and be their strength.
"The current times have shattered humanity, with many states facing shortage of beds, oxygen and life-saving medicines," she said, urging everyone to avoid moving out of their homes unless necessary.
She also called upon all to unite and try and help each other leaving aside any discrimination.
"I am confident that you will understand the seriousness of the COVID pandemic and will contribute as a citizen. I hope the country will soon succeed in coming out of this crisis," Gandhi said in her five-minute video message.
She complimented the doctors and nursing staff and all health workers who are treating all those affected with COVID while risking their lives.
India's daily COVID-19 cases reached a record high of 4,01,993 on Saturday, taking the cumulative caseload to 1,91,64,969. The death toll climbed to 2,11,853 with 3,523 fresh fatalities, according to Union health ministry data.
कोरोना महामारी के इस चुनौतीपूर्ण समय में आपके व आपके परिवार की सुरक्षा और अच्छे स्वास्थ्य की कामना करती हूं। वह लाखों परिवार जिन्होंने अपने परिजनों को खोया है, उनके प्रति दिल से अपनी संवेदना व्यक्त करती हूं।
— Congress (@INCIndia) May 1, 2021
- कांग्रेस अध्यक्षा, श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी#COVID19India pic.twitter.com/btmCeG8K6B
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.
TN Assembly elections: Eight-month pregnant homemaker wins Thiru Vi Ka Nagar seat for TVK
Chennai (PTI): Before giving birth, she had already delivered a mandate—a symbol of hope for Thiru Vi Ka Nagar.
Echoing Delhi’s 2013 “common citizen” political churn associated with the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an eight-month-pregnant homemaker, M R Pallavi, has been elected as an MLA from Chennai’s Thiru Vi Ka Nagar constituency, emerging as one of the notable first-time faces of the Vijay-led TVK in the recently held Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
In the narrow lanes of Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, a steady stream of media personnel has been making their way to Pallavi’s residence—a scene reminiscent of the result day in Delhi when journalists thronged the modest home of Rakhi Birla, who had won from Mangolpuri on an AAP ticket.
Pallavi, 36, a homemaker educated up to class XII, defeated the DMK candidate K S Ravichandran by a margin of 22,333 votes in the reserved Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Assembly constituency.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam emerged as the single largest party by winning 108 seats, while DMK and AIADMK got 59 and 47, respectively.
Pallavi’s victory has drawn attention due to her personal circumstances. She campaigned extensively while eight months pregnant, going door-to-door to reach voters.
According to local accounts, she even fainted once during the campaign but continued her outreach.
She has not spoken to the media following her victory, as doctors have advised her to rest. Her husband, Rajesh, briefly recounted her campaign efforts.
A self-professed admirer of actor-turned-politician Vijay, Pallavi joined TVK soon after its formation and is now among its first-time legislators.
Doctors have advised her to be hospitalised around May 20, as she is expecting her second child. Ahead of that, voters in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar have entrusted her with representing them in the state Assembly.
Political observers say the rise of candidates like Pallavi signals a possible shift in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, with voters backing a new party and candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.
