Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Plan A had failed and urged him to spell out clearly backup measures as both the health and economic situations were hurtling towards disaster and people were “losing trust” in the government.
Addressing journalists over video, Rahul minced no words: “The Prime Minister had said the battle against corona would be won in 21 days. After four lockdowns, infections are rising. It is clear that Plan A has failed. Let us accept the truth. Now the Prime Minister should clearly tell the nation what he intends to do about the rising infections and the economic crisis. He should tell the nation his future plan of action.”
Lamenting that India was the only country that was opening up at a time infections were on the rise, Rahul said: “It is getting extremely difficult. The disease profile is shooting up. The Prime Minister needs to put forth his Plan B, explaining how he is going to control the infection, what his plan is to help the poor and small businesses. If massive cash injection is not done, the situation will become disastrous.”
Refusing to answer questions about what went wrong, as he asserted he was interested in solutions and not a post-mortem, the Wayanad MP said: “If you ask the Prime Minister, even he will say the lockdown had failed to achieve the objective,” Rahul said.
Rahul said: “Let bygones be bygones. Now act, please take economic action. We haven’t yet seen the extent of devastation that is going to come. The situation is dangerous. I feel sad to say that the damage will be huge if no financial support is given to protect the businesses and the poor.”
Underscoring the need for the Centre to give assistance to the states, Rahul said: “The Congress is in power in three to four states. We know what is to be done there. We have a strategy; we are giving cash to the people, to the farmers. But states cannot function without the support of the central government. The states are hamstrung. Our states have told me we are fighting a lonely battle. We are disappointed so far; what has been given in terms of a package is not going to help. The Centre can do it even now and that’s why I am saying the Prime Minister should tell how he is going to give cash, increase testing, help the economy.”
Rahul advised Modi not to live in retreat. “Initially he played on the front foot and then went low key. Now he is not visible. India needs to see the Prime Minister. He will have to play aggressively and deal with the problem.”
The Congress leader declined to rate the Prime Minister’s performance, contending that his job as an Opposition leader was to point out the problems and highlight the deficiencies. That’s what he had done when he had alerted the government in February about the pandemic and that’s what he was continuing to do.
Asked about the government’s delivery so far, Rahul said: “I have been speaking to migrant workers, the poor… other people. They have a sense of hopelessness. They feel they have been left alone. They say bharosa toot gaya (trust is broken). I don’t like any Indian saying these words — bharosa toot gaya. Rich, poor, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh… nobody should feel the trust is broken. The government can still wake up and act. Rs 7,500 should be directly transferred to 50 per cent people in the bottom half.”
He criticised chief minister Yogi Adityanath for making it mandatory for other states to take permission for hiring labourers from Uttar Pradesh. “It is unfortunate. People are Indian first; then they belong to states. Where somebody goes to work is not the chief minister’s decision. If people want to go to work in Delhi or Mumbai, it is their right to do so. The citizens are not the personal property of the governments. This is an absolutely absurd position.”
To a question about the safe mobility for air passengers, Rahul said: “I am not an expert on this thing. The decision should be taken on the basis of inputs from experts and the states. There should be no ad-hocism, it should be opened in a systematic manner. Any haphazard opening will be a problem; the second wave (of the pandemic) will come and will be very disastrous.”
He agreed the situation in Mumbai was bad but contested the demands for President’s rule. “Mumbai is the most connected place. It is struggling because of the nature of connectivity. The Centre should provide full support to Maharashtra. The BJP can ask questions, raise issues but can’t jump directly to President’s rule. Uprooting a democratic structure for President’s rule is not playing a constructive role,” Rahul said.
He also tried to distinguish Maharashtra from the Congress-ruled states, saying “we are not in a decision-making” role there.
Asked about Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s allegation that he had resorted to “dramabazi” by meeting migrants, Rahul said: “I meet these people to understand how they feel, to know what is in their hearts. This helps me a lot. I made that short film to show to the rest of India; the people should feel their pain. As far as her suggestion to lift their bags is concerned, I am ready to lift the bags of many people. Let them give me permission to go to Lucknow on foot and I will help these people on the way.”
He refused to answer questions on the tensions with China and Nepal, saying: “The Government of India should be more transparent and tell the nation what is happening. There is no clarity. Let the government deal with it. It is not good for me to comment.”
