Close to a week after India touched the 1 billion mark in Covid-19 vaccinations, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi criticised the Narendra Modi-led government on Wednesday, urging it to focus on those who are yet to be vaccinated instead of cherry-picking and celebrating only the positives of the inoculation drive.
The Congress MP from Wayanad took to Twitter, sharing Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s article in an Indian newspaper and posting, “Jumla version of the vaccine story won’t save lives. Actual vaccination will.” Rahul Gandhi added the hashtag: “DutyToVaccinate”.
The word “jumla” in Hindi loosely means “false promise” and was popularised by Rahul Gandhi during a speech in the Parliament in 2018.
In her article in the newspaper that Rahul Gandhi cited, Sonia Gandhi congratulated the country’s health and science community for achieving a billion Covid-19 vaccinations, but also pointed out that India has a long way to go when it comes to safeguarding the entire population against the Covid-19 pandemic.
{{/usCountry}}In her article in the newspaper that Rahul Gandhi cited, Sonia Gandhi congratulated the country’s health and science community for achieving a billion Covid-19 vaccinations, but also pointed out that India has a long way to go when it comes to safeguarding the entire population against the Covid-19 pandemic.
{{/usCountry}}The Congress president also took a jab at PM Modi’s promise of seeking to fully vaccinate all eligible Indians by the end of the year, saying the target is unlikely at this stage.
The Congress party’s official Twitter handle shared Sonia Gandhi’s article and quoted her in a tweet, saying, “The PM likes to emphasise that vaccines are free, while conveniently forgetting that they have always been free. It is the BJP government that moved away from India’s universal free vaccination policy.”
The post used the hashtag “DutyToVaccinate”.