No politics over the COVID 19 pandemic please say the country, but is the Opposition listening?

Ajay Ramola
GG News Bureau
Delhi/Dehradun, 2nd June. The Congress Party once again is seeking to gain few brownie points by leaving no stone unturned to malign PM Narendra Modi and the BJP government over the issue of Covid vaccine management or mismanagement in the country.

The Congress party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra once again questioned the shortage of Covid-19 vaccine in the country through a video post on Twitter. She said,” We are one of the biggest vaccine manufacturers in the world. Yet only 3.4% of our population is fully vaccinated, who is responsible for India’s confused and dithering vaccination program?

We are one of the biggest vaccine manufacturers in the world. Yet only 3.4% of our population is fully vaccinated.

Who is responsible for India’s confused and dithering vaccination program?#SpeakUpForFreeUniversalVaccination pic.twitter.com/9JRgc1QSIo

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) June 2, 2021

This is not the first time the Congress party has raised the issue and blamed BJP. Many political experts believe that since the opposition can’t corner PM Narendra Modi on the issue of with Covid-pandemic they have got an opportunity to bring down the PM of the country to his knees and score points so that they can regain power in the centre by tarnishing his image and one can say that they have succeeded in it, to some extent.
However, it was the same Congress party and its allies in the election who called this Vaccine as BJP vaccine and instigated people against getting vaccinated a few months back. The situation was such back then the hospitals were nearly empty, and one could just walk in and get their jabs without any inconvenience. When asked the doctors involved in Covid management centres said that the people are not coming forward for vaccination. To stop the vaccine wastage as it has less shelf life the government decided to take back the vaccines and relocate them to the places where the hesitancy was less and the covid positive number was high.
But with the appearance of the second wave triggering the surge in the pandemic, the demand for vaccine including oxygen cylinders etc. Just doubled within a span of two days from 9th May, creating a breakdown in the health system. The unprecedented surge in the pandemic broke down the administrative and medical structures all around the country.
The Congress and other opposition parties including the left that is helping congress by providing logistic support in form of manpower that is virulently active in social media have pounced on the opportunity like a pack of hungry wolves and are leaving no forum to blame the union government over its handling of the Covid pandemic.
Congress being the oldest national party which sadly has been reduced to less than half in the country is aware of the declining popularity graph (if surveys are to be believed) of Narendra Modi, the brand ambassador of BJP. Congress believes that it will be easy to regain power in the centre through Modi bashing even if it is at cost of the dead bodies of millions dying, due to the Covid pandemic in the country.
Well, the Modi government has faltered too at a certain level but negativity being created by the opposition when people are losing their lives has not been received well, by a large section of people in the country including the intellectuals.
Bill Aitken the celebrated author and theologian of Scottish descent, who lives a quiet life in the sleepy hill station in Mussoorie and has embraced Hinduism and dedicated his life to Nanda Devi, the Himalayan deity with its temple in Almora, is no admirer of BJP’s hardline right-wing politics. But he too is of the view that the audit of the Modi government can be done later when the pandemic is over but right now the need of the hour is to fight this menace, collectively.

The BJP senior leaders including Madan Kaushik, Uttarakhand State BJP president  have termed this Vaccine politics as despicable and have appealed to all to unite in the fight against the pandemic.

Congress too, realises that unwarranted criticism of the Modi government could backfire and harm its poll prospects especially in the next assembly and Lok Sabha elections, so it has shrewdly asked its party workers to engage in providing relief to the people especially in the states that are due for poll next year. The party does not want to be seen as a hindrance in the Covid fight and is busy recreating an image where its leaders at the national level keep on attacking BJP and at the grass-root level it has asked the party workers to galvanise and by trying to stay near the people suffering due to Covid portray as if they are the only party that is standing beside them in this hour of need. The party believes that such moves would benefit the party in the next local body elections and later help its candidate contesting assembly elections in the state that are scheduled for next year.
Many believe that the state governments, BJP or any other party are equal partners in this sin committed by letting down its guard in tackling the second wave of the Covid pandemic that incidentally, had come down to a minimal level after the Lockdown and other Covid appropriate behaviour imposed in the country during the first wave. If the preventive measure could have been taken earlier, the surge could have been controlled to a certain extent believe political experts at the state level thus bringing down the number of infected persons in the country.
The Congress party workers have succeeded in entering the covid management by assisting the local administration around the country even in the BJP ruled states in the name of social service and are portraying as if they are the new messiahs in such trying times in the country.The amount of benefit that will be reaped politically is an issue that is for the discussion in future, but this multi-pronged strategy is proving fruitful for the opposition, for now.
The senior BJP leaders are of the view that when the lockdown was imposed in the first wave it was set of these political parties who demanded un-lockdown and now when the lockdown curfew is needed, they are up in arm against such move by the government.

Kedar Rawat the BJP MLA from Yamnotri, an assembly constituency in the remote district of Uttarkashi said that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has nothing to say and are bent upon playing vaccine politics over the dead bodies of the people dying due to the Covid pandemic. So far over 90 % of people over the age of 60 have been vaccinated.

Over 65% of people over the age of 45 have been vaccinated and the government is committed to vaccine all people over the age of 18 by December. The Opposition through its toolkit management is only trying to malign BJP and Narendra Modi instead of addressing the woes of the people. On the contrary, the opposition tried to create a false shortage by hoarding it in their houses and a living example of it is the AAP leader in Delhi. When the government acted on such hoarders the shortage of vaccine and oxygen cylinders disappeared within a span of few days thus indicating that the opposition parties were behind creating such chaos in the country. Kedar Rawat advised Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to work for the people in such ties and try to ease their pain through positive works instead of spreading negativity. This relentless tirade against Modi is also being seen as an attempt by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is also trying to portray herself as the best alternative for the prime minitrial candidate for the Congress as many in the congress are ready to see Rahul Gandhi as the next PM candidate.
The political experts do not mind Congress taking advantage of the situation by providing relief to the people but are of the view that it should avoid spreading negativity through such vilified comments that lead to creating panic in the country.