Prime Minister Narendra Modi ripped into the Opposition in Parliament today, blaming it for the countrywide spread of Covid and the migrant crisis in the initial days and alleging that this was "paap (sin)".
The Opposition did not do anything positive, like asking the people to take Covid precautions, but their contribution to the pandemic was not insignificant, he said in an all-out attack during the Motion of Thanks debate in the Lok Sabha, reports ndtv.com.
Pointing at the Opposition-ruled governments in Maharashtra and Delhi, he alleged, "You people pushed labourers into difficulties".
"The Congress crossed the limit," he said. "During the first wave, when we had lockdown, when WHO was advising that 'stay wherever you are'... the Congress at the Mumbai railway station gave tickets to labours to go and spread coronavirus," he said.
"In Delhi, the government used mics on jeeps in slums to go home, arranged buses," the Prime Minister said, adding that in Uttar Pradesh and other states "where corona didn't have this intensity, there also coronavirus spread due to this"
The migrant crisis was one of the key issues during the outbreak of the pandemic which the Opposition has blamed on the government.
The imposition of the lockdown without any advance warning had led to the suffering of millions, the opposition said, as visuals of labourers footing it to their homes from distant corners, left the country shaken. Headlines on their plight, including lack of food and water and crackdown by the police at state borders, stunned the world.
Along with blaming the Centre over the pandemic, the opposition, PM Modi contended, has neglected the government's achievements, added ndtv.com.
"During Covid, the Indian economy was the fastest growing in the world, farmers produced record quantity 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 still giving," he said.
All this, he implied, was deliberate, because "some people thought Corona will ruin Modi's image". "Is it country not yours or the people? Aren't their happiness sorrows yours as well?" he said.
"Such a big problem came, how many elected leaders requested people to wear masks, wash hands, practice social distancing. If they told the public so, what would have BJP government or Modi benefited?" he said, adding that for this behavior of the Congress, "Not just me, the entire country is fed up".
As example, he cited states, which, he said, have rejected the Congress for decades.
"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 majority in Goa single-handedly, but Goa didnt 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.
