Rahul slams PM over second wave, vaccine shortage; Javadekar waves ‘toolkit’

At a virtual press conference, Gandhi said the Prime Minister should stop worrying about his image, which is “dead and gone”, and address the problem.

Gandhi said the government has not understood the nature of the virus. Calling its vaccination policy flawed, he said multiple waves of the pandemic would hit India if the strategy is not corrected and vaccinations continue at the current pace. Gandhi said the Prime Minister is acting as an “event manager” at a time India needs a war-like effort.

“The first wave no one understood. The second wave is the prime minister’s responsibility. The nautanki (theatrics) that he did…the prime minister did not fulfill his responsibility…that is why (we have) the second wave,” he said.

Gandhi said the only permanent way to fight the virus is to vaccinate everyone. “The tragedy is that the government does not understand the nature of what they are fighting. The government is under the impression that they are fighting the Opposition,” he said.

“I guarantee you at 3% vaccination we are going to get a third wave and it is going to be more brutal than the second wave. If we continue to leave the space open, if we do not shut the door for the virus, if we do not shut the space for it to mutate, there will be a fourth wave and fifth wave and then there is a chance the vaccine would not work,” he said.

He said the government does not have any strategy. “What was happening was electioneering in Bengal. Mass events were taking place. You (PM) allowed crores of people to roam around in Kumbh Mela…,” he said.