Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (February 7) tore into the Congress and opposition, blaming them for the rise in coronavirus cases.
“The Congress crossed the limit. During the first wave, when we had a lockdown, when WHO was advising that ‘stay wherever you are’… the Congress at the Mumbai railway station gave tickets to labourers to go and spread coronavirus,” he said in Lok Sabha during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.
“In Delhi, the government used mics on jeeps in slums to go home, arranged buses,” he said, adding that in Uttar Pradesh and other states “where corona didn’t have this intensity, there also coronavirus spread due to this.”
“Till when will such politics continue,” he sought to know.
After Modi announced the first lockdown on March 24, 2020, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, thousands of migrant workers were left stranded in cities where they worked, as they did not get their daily wages and staying in the cities was unaffordable for them. Many migrant workers were seen walking thousands of miles to reach their homes in villages as public transport too was cut off.
While the Modi government was criticised for this hasty decision, the government itself later came up with Vande Bharat trains to return the migrants. The large-scale movement of migrant workers was one of the reasons for the increase in the number of coronavirus cases across the country, although a significant part was due to incoming international passengers.
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Modi also hit out at the opposition for criticising the state of the Indian economy.
“During Covid, the Indian economy was the fastest growing in the world. Farmers produced record quantities of foodgrains. Lot of countries faced food shortages. But this country didn’t let anyone die of hunger. India gave free ration to over 80 crore people and is still giving,” he said.
On criticism that the Centre’s policies had forced the shutting down of hundreds of small businesses and taken jobs out of people’s hands, and that Make in India was not possible, Modi said: “We do not agree with the approach of scaring our youth, wealth creators and entrepreneurs. One can have suggestions on ‘Make in India’ but which mindset can say it will fail? Those making fun of ‘Make in India’ have become a joke themselves.”
“We believe in the people of the nation, the youth of the nation. Take the start-up sector for example. The number of start-ups have risen and this shows the strength of our people. Before 2014, India had 500 startups. Since then, we have over 60,000 startups.”
“Such a big problem came, but how many elected leaders requested people to wear masks, wash hands, practice social distancing. If they told the public, what would have benefited the BJP government or Modi?” he said, adding that due to this behaviour of Congress, the entire country is fed up.
To strengthen his argument, he said: “In 1988, the people of Nagaland voted for the Congress last. Odisha voted for you last in 1995 — it has been 27 years. In 1994, you won a majority in Goa single-handedly, but Goa didn’t accept you since. In 1988, Tripura, 34 years ago, you got the mandate. In 1985, it was the turn of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. In West Bengal, they voted for you last in 1972,” PM Modi said.
“Congress attempted to hurt Tamil sentiments, it wants to divide and rule the country. I want to salute Tamil Nadu citizens who lined the streets for hours to pay tribute to CDS Gen Bipin Rawat,” he said.
“Divide and rule is in their DNA. Congress has lost the appetite for power but believes in the policy of sowing seeds that will strengthen separatist forces,” he said.