Opposition targets Modi government over its 'failure' in handling Covid

Kharge said the government 'failed' to tackle the pandemic and referred to the impact of lockdown on migrants and the economy

The Opposition on Tuesday targeted the Narendra Modi government for its "failure" in Covid-19 management on counts of loss of lives, "fake" data on deaths, vaccine shortage, lack of oxygen, and "inadequate" preparation to handle the second wave of the pandemic.

The parties also took potshots at the government over removing Harsh Vardhan as Health Minister earlier this month, holding election rallies and declaring victory over Covid-19 just a month before the second wave hit the country.

Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge opened the attack, saying the official death toll of 4-5 lakh released by the government is "false" and "conservative", while claiming that the average number of deaths cannot be less than 52.4 lakh so far.

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"The government is releasing fake figures and it is far away from the truth," Kharge said, which was echoed by some MPs who spoke on the issue.

He said the government "failed" to tackle the pandemic and referred to the impact of lockdown on migrants and the economy. He said it "created unemployment and the problem of inflation".

Targeting the government, he said, "The government asked people to wear masks and maintain social distancing. But what were they doing, during the elections in different states? You are breaking your own rules. They should be given credit for flouting Covid-19 norms."

He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not fulfilling his promise and said, "Instead of taking the blame, he made the health minister (Harsh Varshan) a scapegoat."

Trinamool Congress's Dr Santanu Sen said, "The main problem is that our government is always in a self-congratulatory mode. Some of their leaders are saying corona is a virus, it has the right to live. Can you believe this? One of their ministers is saying have Bhabhiji papad, you will get rid of the corona. Some are saying have cow urine or cow dung. That's the main problem."

CPI(M)'s Elamaram Kareem questioned the government's vaccine policy and said the government is continuing with dual vaccine policy. He said 25 per cent of vaccines are still reserved for the private sector, which is going to the upper class of the society.

Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut accused the government of hiding the Covid-19 related data. "Tell us, how many people have lost their lives (due to Covid). Reports say higher number of people have died than the government's official figures," he said.