Re-imposing lockdown after assembly polls will be a 'mistake': Asaduddin Owaisi

India is battling the second wave of coronavirus pandemic and the number of new Covid-19 cases in India surged to a record-high of 152,879 on Sunday.

All India Majlis-e-Ittahad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi said the government must not reimpose a nationwide lockdown once the results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu are declared. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again imposes a Covid-19 lockdown across India, it will be a 'mistake', Owaisi could be heard saying in a clip posted by the AIMIM's Twitter account on Sunday.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said that re-imposing a nation-wide lockdown would be incorrect and a "betrayal" against the poor. (File Photo)

"I hope that the Prime Minister doesn't announce a nationwide lockdown a day after the election results for the assembly polls in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry are declared on May 2," Owaisi said. He added that imposing such a measure would be incorrect and a "betrayal" against the poor and claimed that the India-wide lockdown announced in March last year resulted in 10 crore poor people losing their jobs. "Around 25-30 lakh white-collar workers had to face a deduction in their salaries and people died…. Hence, I hope the mistake which Prime Minister Modi had committed in March 2020 will not be repeated this year… Lockdown is not a correct way to tackle Covid,” Owaisi added.