“Understand the chronology,” the Congress said on Thursday, pointing out that the health minister had written to Rahul Gandhi over Covid concerns and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was reviewing the virus-related situation just days before the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Delhi. The Congress slur came just hours before Prime Minister Modi was scheduled to review the country’s COVID-19 situation in a high-level meeting on Thursday afternoon.
“In July, September and November, 4 cases of the Omicron sub-variant that caused the Chinese surge were reported in Gujarat and Odisha,” Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter. “The Health Minister wrote a letter to Rahul Gandhi yesterday. The PM is reviewing the situation today. The Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter Delhi the day after. Ab Aap Samjhiye Chronology… (now understand the chronology),” he said.
Accusing the government of selectively choosing the Bharat Jodo Yatra over Covid concerns, the Congress pointed to the BJP holding marches in Karnataka and Rajasthan and argued that public health was too serious an issue to play party politics on. Citing concerns raised by three BJP MPs about the spread of the coronavirus, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to consider suspending the Bharat Jodo Yatra if Covid protocols could not be followed.
The Jatra entered Haryana on Wednesday from Rajasthan. The yatra, a mass contact initiative of the Congress, started from Kanyakumari on September 7 and covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It will enter Delhi on December 24 and after a break of about nine days, move to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and finally Jammu and Kashmir.
