Rahul Gandhi criticises Centre’s vaccine festival, calls it a ‘sham’ | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Rahul Gandhi criticises Centre’s vaccine festival, calls it a ‘sham’

By | Written by Shankhyaneel Sarkar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Apr 15, 2021 01:44 PM IST

Rahul Gandhi increased his attacks on the government over its handling of Covid-19 pandemic as the nation recorded 2 lakh fresh cases on Thursday.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday criticised the Tika Utsav organised by the Centre by calling it a ‘sham’. The former Congress president said in a tweet the Centre’s shortcoming is exposed as it does not have adequate beds, medical oxygen as well as vaccines but the government is celebrating a ‘sham’ in the name of a ‘vaccine festival.’

Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi gestures as he addresses a rally during an election campaign at Shibmandir on the outskirts of Siliguri. (AFP)
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi gestures as he addresses a rally during an election campaign at Shibmandir on the outskirts of Siliguri. (AFP)

“No tests, no hospital beds, no ventilators or medical oxygen in hospitals. There is no adequate vaccine either, if there is anything then there is a government busy celebrating a sham of a vaccine festival. PM Cares?”, Rahul tweeted.

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The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad has been critical of the Centre’s handling of the pandemic as India continues to report high single-day surges in the number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccinations. Over the past week, Rahul has targeted the Centre over its pace of inoculations and vaccine strategy.

In his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 9, Rahul demanded that Covid-19 vaccine exports are halted immediately and vaccination be opened before people of wider age groups. He also demanded that the vaccination be made available for anyone who needs it and urged the government to fast-track the approvals of other vaccines by adhering to norms and guidelines.

Gandhi’s demand was met with sharp criticism from the government when Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called the Congress leader a ‘lobbyist’ for the big pharmaceutical companies and asked him to tell chief ministers of states where Congress is in power to strongly commit to providing basic universal healthcare to the people.

Maharashtra, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Assam said that they were facing a shortage of vaccines owing to a lack of adequate numbers of doses. The vaccine shortage in the financial hub Mumbai was so severe that last week the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had to stop vaccinations at private centres on April 11 and 12 due to lack of doses.

Rahul again took a dig at the Centre on April 12 and said the government should accept that the Opposition’s suggestions were appropriate. His tweet aimed at the government came hours after the expert panel granted emergency use approval to Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik-V, developed by Russia.

Rahul attacked the government once more on Wednesday evening when he quoted Mahatma Gandhi and tweeted a news clip that reported that the government is fast-tracking emergency approval for foreign-produced vaccines.

India recorded a record daily-high on Thursday with over 2,00,739 new Covid-19 cases taking the tally to 14,074,564. The death toll rose to 173,123 with 1,038 fresh fatalities.

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