The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday accused Congress MP Rahul Gandhi of “doing politics” over deaths related to Covid-19 in the country. Calling out the estimate shared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on excess coronavirus deaths in the country, the saffron camp said the global body’s data and Congress’ ‘beta’ (son) are both wrong.
Speaking at a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the WHO's methodology to calculate the estimated deaths in India due to the coronavirus is “flawed”.
“India has a robust mechanism for birth and death registration. The WHO's data and the Congress' beta are wrong,” the BJP spokesperson said.
He said the Congress leader has “repeatedly tried to lower Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image since 2014 and has, in the process lowered India's image”.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi accused Modi of “lying” over India’s Covid-19 toll. Sharing a report by the WHO, Gandhi said “47 lakh Indians died due to the Covid pandemic, and not 4.8 lakh as claimed by the government.” He further urged the ruling government to support the kin of those who succumbed to the deadly virus with a compensation of ₹4 lakh.
“47 lakh Indians died due to the Covid pandemic. NOT 4.8 lakh as claimed by the Govt. Science doesn't LIE. Modi does. Respect families who've lost loved ones. Support them with the mandated ₹4 lakh compensation," he wrote on Twitter.
{{/usCountry}}“47 lakh Indians died due to the Covid pandemic. NOT 4.8 lakh as claimed by the Govt. Science doesn't LIE. Modi does. Respect families who've lost loved ones. Support them with the mandated ₹4 lakh compensation," he wrote on Twitter.
{{/usCountry}}The Centre has rejected WHO's report and called it “statistically unsound and scientifically questionable”.
The WHO has said “India reported 4.7 million excess deaths between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021" -- more than three times the number of lives officially recorded worldwide - a total of approximately 14.9 million fatalities.