The Goa unit of the Congress on Saturday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi delayed the announcement of lockdown to facilitate toppling of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh.

In his tweet, state Congress chief Girish Chodankar, quoted a news that appeared in a Marathi newspaper, which claimed that had the lockdown been imposed earlier, the country would not have faced the current situation.

'Delay in lockdown decision by @narendramodi to facilitate toppling of @OfficeofKNath Govt in Madhya Pradesh exploded #Coronavirus in India. @BJP4India is responsible for rising graph of #Covid19India,' he said in the tweet.

Kamal Nath stepped down as MP chief minister on March 20 after resignations by 22 rebel Congress MLAs pushed his government to the brink.

On March 24, Modi had announced a three-week-long national lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, which has now been extended till May 3.