Follow Covid guidelines or suspend Bharat Jodo Yatra: Health Minister to Rahul

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has written to Rahul Gandhi asking him to ensure that proper Covid guidelines are being followed in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

“If it is not possible to follow the Covid regulations, then the yatra should be stopped keeping in mind the ‘public health emergency’ situation,” the health minister’s letter said.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi concluded its Rajasthan leg on Tuesday evening after covering a distance of nearly 485 km in 15 days in the party-ruled state.

In the letter, the health ministry stressed on the use of masks and santisers in the yatra and that only vaccinated people should participate.

Also read: Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra enters Haryana

Fresh concerns

The letter comes amid fresh health concerns triggered by the new wave of Covid in China. A similar upward trend in Covid cases has also been noticed in Japan, South Korea, Brazil and the US which prompted the Centre to urge all states and UTs to gear up the whole genome sequencing of the positive cases.

The health minister has called a meeting to review the Covid situation in the country on Wednesday with the secretaries of health and Ayush ministries, the Department of Pharmaceuticals and Department of Biotechnology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Rajiv Bahl, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog V K Paul and National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) Chairman N L Arora and other senior officials.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra, a mass contact initiative of the Congress, started from Kanyakumari on September 7 and covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh before entering Rajasthan on December 4 evening.

Cong retort

As the letter by the health minister came to light, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said he wants to ask the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “did PM (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi follow COVID protocols during Gujarat polls?”

Also read: Health minister Mandaviya to review Covid situation amid spurt in cases in China

“I think Mansukh Mandaviya is not liking Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra but people are liking it and joining it. Mandaviya has been deputed to divert public’s attention,” Chowdhury said.