WHO data, Cong 'beta' both wrong: Sambit Patra on Rahul Gandhi's remarks on COVID deaths
New Delhi, May 6: The BJP on Friday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of doing politics over COVID-19 deaths, alleging that the WHO's data and Congress' "beta" (son) are wrong.
At a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the World Health Organisation's (WHO) methodology to calculate estimated deaths in India due to the virus is "flawed" and "imaginary" and the Indian government had conveyed its objections to the organisation.
Gandhi has tried repeatedly to lower Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image since 2014 and has in the process lowered India's image, Patra said.
India has a robust mechanism for birth and death registration under the Registrar General of India, he added.
"The WHO's data and the Congress' beta are wrong," he alleged, saying Gandhi should not "demoralise" India.
Gandhi had earlier attacked the government over a WHO report which claimed there were 4.7 million Covid deaths in India, saying "science does not lie, Prime Minister Narendra Modi does".
The Congress leader had also demanded that the government should support the families that have lost loved ones by giving them the mandated Rs four lakh compensation.
Patra said the entire world believes that the way India fought the pandemic under Modi's leadership is an example for others, and it is very sad to do politics over death figures. India dealt with the disease better than many developed countries, he claimed.
India fought as one against the pandemic without any distinction between BJP-ruled states or those ruled by opposition parties, he added.
Criticising the WHO methodology, he said its data was incorrect and added that even the global body has acknowledged its sources were not verified. India has made it clear from time to time that it does not believe in the mathematical model of the organisation, he added.
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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.
