On Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of spreading misinformation and fake news about the Centre's response to the devastating COVID-19.
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During a video conference with the media, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Gandhi of trying to weaken the country's determining against the coronavirus pandemic from the start. He went as far as saying that the Congress leader's campaign was based on falsehood, deliberate twisting of facts and misinterpretation.
Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday criticised the Centre's decision to continue the nationwide lockdown that was imposed on March 25 and added that contrary to expectations, infections had spiked during this period.
Prasad said, “Barring China, in the 15 counties which have been hit by the pandemic, the population is 142 crore and India has 137 crore, and so far we have 3.43 lakh deaths globally and in India 4,345. The recovery percentage is also high.”
He hit back at Gandhi, questioning why the Congress governments of Punjab and Rajasthan imposed lockdown at the earliest if such a measure wasn't useful. He criticised the Congress leader or spreading “negativity, misinformation and fake news."
“Maharashtra (where the Congress is a partner in the ruling alliance) extended it till May 31. Do your CMs not listen to you?” Prasad said.
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“He said his constituency was recognised by the health ministry for tackling the pandemic, whereas it was declared as a hot spot. He’s asking for the Nyay scheme whereas the Modi government has announced a Rs 20 lakh crore package…he spoke about passing on benefits of the global oil price crash, but there was a VAT hike in Rajasthan and Punjab raised diesel prices,” Prasad added.