MOVID! MOVID! 
Modi gave space for Covid, that’s why I call it ‘Movid’, Rahul Gandhi says
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blames PM Modi for second wave, says he was busy with events & making a spectacle, accuses govt of lying about Covid death toll.
Neelam Pandey28 May, 2021
Screen grab of a video conference held by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on 28 May 2021 | Congress | Twitter
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New Delhi: Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi warned that India will witness a third, fourth and fifth wave of the disease if the government did not change its vaccine strategy.
Rather than events, Gandhi said, India needs a vaccine strategy. “The Prime Minister does not think strategically. He is the event manager. But we don’t need events but a strategy. People are being killed and a strategy is needed,” the Congress leader said while addressing a press conference Friday.
Gandhi said the Prime Minister’s indulgence in ‘nautanki’ (spectacle) was the reason for the second wave that saw India register a record number of daily cases and deaths. “We are the vaccine capital, we make vaccines. No one could understand the first wave. But the second wave is the PM’s responsibility. The nautanki he did and the fact he did not fulfil his responsibility … his stunts, his lies about death … is the reason why we are in this situation today,” he claimed.
“Get your vaccination strategy right, don’t give chance to coronavirus to mutate. If we don’t get it right, there will be third, fourth and many waves in the country,” he added.
On a question about a tweet Gandhi had posted earlier this month, calling the crisis a ‘Movid’ pandemic, the Congress leader said: “If Modi ji’s action would have been different, then we would have had Covid only. But his action gave scope to Covid … My message was that PM of India made space for Covid through his actions, whether it was banging thaalis … the gathering in West Bengal, all gave Covid space to flourish. Modi ji helped Covid, thats why I called it Movid.”
Gandhi also addressed the ‘toolkit’ controversy by calling it a ‘BJP invention’.
Also read: Congress creating false panic in fight against Covid, JP Nadda writes to Sonia Gandhi
‘Govt spreading lies, tell us truth about Covid death toll’
Cautioning the government, the Congress leader said the current pace of vaccinating the population wasn’t fast enough, and warned of more waves of the infection as the virus mutates. “Our mortality is a lie and the government is spreading this lie. The government should understand that the opposition is not their enemy … the opposition is in fact showing them the way. We would not have gone through this crisis if they had heard us in February.”
The former Congress president added that he had “directly” told the PM that India will witness multiple waves as the virus will mutate and adapt.
“You have left the door open and have still not shut it. You have vaccinated only three per cent of the population, leaving the rest vulnerable. The US has vaccinated half its population. Brazil has vaccinated 8 to 9 per cent. They are not the vaccine capital, we are. We make vaccines,” Gandhi said.
“It is important to understand we are fighting a war with corona. Once you do that you need to realise what this virus is. Corona is not a single disease but an evolving one, it changes and transforms. The only way to stop corona is to remove the space within which it moves. Do not give it time to move. There are some temporary and some permanent ways to fight. Temporary moves which may be brutal but possibly required under certain circumstances are lockdown, social distancing, sanitisation, masks. These are temporary measures that slow the virus but don’t stop it. Vaccine is a permanent solution and without this we will continue to witness multiple waves,” he said.
Gandhi also accused the government of lying about the number of Covid-19 deaths. “Our death rate is a lie. The government is spreading that. The government should tell us the truth. Lying about death is helping coronavirus. It’s gone past politics. It is about saving people’s lives. The future of Indians is at stake.”
On whether Congress-governed states were also under-reporting deaths, Gandhi said he had “personally spoken to our CMs” and told them to report the facts.
“I have told them that there would be problems in speaking the truth, but we need to speak the truth. Whether Chhattisgarh CM or others … It may hurt but will also give us feedback. If we have to fight with Covid, we need truth. I am saying with a guarantee that the death rate of the Modi government is completely a lie, an exponential lie,” he said.
Gandhi also criticised the central government and the PM for not putting in place a system to submit feedback, which, he said, was essential to fight the disease. “The foreign minister is busy giving lectures that India has made its mark … we have carried out vaccine diplomacy. You exported vaccines … And only 3 per cent of Indians have got the vaccine.”
(Edited by Manasa Mohan)
Also read: CWC holds off polls for Congress president, to focus on ‘saving every life’ amid Covid 2nd wave
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New Delhi: The Congress Working Committee in a meeting Monday decided to defer the internal party elections temporarily, citing the Covid pandemic crisis in the country as the reason.
“In view of the nationwide emergent conditions prevailing on account of unprecedented Corona pandemic, the CWC was unanimous that all our energies should be channelised towards saving every life and helping every Covid affected person,” the resolution passed by the CWC stated.
Just months ago, in January, the CWC had announced that it will be hold the party’s internal polls, for the post of the party president, after the assembly elections and that the party will have a new elected president by June-end “at any cost”.
The Monday meeting was called by interim party president Sonia Gandhi, to discuss the drubbing faced by the Congress in the assembly polls. In her opening statement at the meeting, Gandhi said that a committee will be constituted to look into the results, for which those present blamed faulty alliances and the party’s lack of planning.
The CWC meeting also discussed the Covid situation in the country and the government’s handling of it.
The meeting was attended by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, chief ministers of Congress-ruled states, and the general secretaries and in-charges of the states in which the elections were held.
Rahul Gandhi, who is recovering from Covid, did not attend the meeting. The Congress leader had tested positive for the disease a few weeks ago.
Also read: ‘Spoke like a statesman’: Dissenting Congress leaders praise Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vision’ on Covid
‘Temporary delay in polls’
Right at the beginning of the meeting, Sonia Gandhi had said that the schedule for the election of party president needed to be decided. CWC members, however, did not respond too enthusiastically to the idea.
Sources said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was the first to make an objection to the proposition.
“How can we think of holding these polls amid such a big crisis? This would be very wrong,” Gehlot was quoted as saying, by a source.
Sources said that Gehlot’s statement drew agreement by other members of the CWC, including some G23 leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad. G23 is a term used for the 23 leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi last year demanding elections for the post of party president and a full time and effective leadership.
However, now, the party has once again pushed off elections for the same. Randeep Singh Surjewala, the chief party spokesperson, in a press-conference after the meet said that this is only a “temporary delay.”
“The schedule was presented, but the members were unanimously of the view that since large gatherings are prohibited right now, elections won’t be possible,” he said.
Surjewala, however, added that Sonia Gandhi “is very clear that it is not an open ended deferment, it is for two-three months, till the situation stabilises.”
Also read: Govt’s repeated chest-thumping at receiving foreign aid is ‘pathetic’, says Rahul Gandhi
Post mortem of assembly poll results
In the CWC meet, leaders also discussed the party’s poor performance in the just-concluded assembly elections. Of the five elections held, the Congress lost in Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry.
Sources said that the alliances crafted by the party in the various states were questioned at the meeting, in particular, the alliance with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) in Bengal and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam.
Jitin Prasada, the party’s in-charge in West Bengal, was quoted as having said that the alliance with ISF cost the party dearly and that long-term vision was ignored at the cost of making alliances work. There had been several rifts in the Congress during the campaign and alliance-formation phase in March over the party’s ties with the ISF.
In the case of Assam, senior leaders such as Digvijaya Singh are said to have questioned the alliance with the AIUDF, saying that it was a “bad compromise”.
In Kerala, party leaders are said to have blamed “lack of planning ahead of time” and “overconfidence” as having resulted in the loss.
Sources said that a vast majority of the four-hour-long meeting was spent talking about the pandemic and the vaccine shortage. The CWC, besides passing a resolution on deferring the internal party polls, also passed a resolution on the Covid crisis and the handling of it by the Narendra Modi government.
Alluding to the government’s Central Vista project, the Congress resolution also stated that the “Modi government is indulging in criminal waste of money, by continuing with the personal vanity project of the Prime Minister in the national capital. This is the height of callousness and insensitivity, as also an insult to the people of the country”.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Also read: How Himanta Biswa Sarma shook off Congress ‘snub’ and rose to become Assam CM
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it
India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.
But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.
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Modi gave space for Covid, that’s why I call it ‘Movid’, Rahul Gandhi says
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blames PM Modi for second wave, says he was busy with events & making a spectacle, accuses govt of lying about Covid death toll.
Neelam Pandey28 May, 2021
Text Size:
New Delhi: Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi warned that India will witness a third, fourth and fifth wave of the disease if the government did not change its vaccine strategy.
Rather than events, Gandhi said, India needs a vaccine strategy. “The Prime Minister does not think strategically. He is the event manager. But we don’t need events but a strategy. People are being killed and a strategy is needed,” the Congress leader said while addressing a press conference Friday.
Gandhi said the Prime Minister’s indulgence in ‘nautanki’ (spectacle) was the reason for the second wave that saw India register a record number of daily cases and deaths. “We are the vaccine capital, we make vaccines. No one could understand the first wave. But the second wave is the PM’s responsibility. The nautanki he did and the fact he did not fulfil his responsibility … his stunts, his lies about death … is the reason why we are in this situation today,” he claimed.
“Get your vaccination strategy right, don’t give chance to coronavirus to mutate. If we don’t get it right, there will be third, fourth and many waves in the country,” he added.
On a question about a tweet Gandhi had posted earlier this month, calling the crisis a ‘Movid’ pandemic, the Congress leader said: “If Modi ji’s action would have been different, then we would have had Covid only. But his action gave scope to Covid … My message was that PM of India made space for Covid through his actions, whether it was banging thaalis … the gathering in West Bengal, all gave Covid space to flourish. Modi ji helped Covid, thats why I called it Movid.”
Gandhi also addressed the ‘toolkit’ controversy by calling it a ‘BJP invention’.
Also read: Congress creating false panic in fight against Covid, JP Nadda writes to Sonia Gandhi
‘Govt spreading lies, tell us truth about Covid death toll’
Cautioning the government, the Congress leader said the current pace of vaccinating the population wasn’t fast enough, and warned of more waves of the infection as the virus mutates. “Our mortality is a lie and the government is spreading this lie. The government should understand that the opposition is not their enemy … the opposition is in fact showing them the way. We would not have gone through this crisis if they had heard us in February.”
The former Congress president added that he had “directly” told the PM that India will witness multiple waves as the virus will mutate and adapt.
“You have left the door open and have still not shut it. You have vaccinated only three per cent of the population, leaving the rest vulnerable. The US has vaccinated half its population. Brazil has vaccinated 8 to 9 per cent. They are not the vaccine capital, we are. We make vaccines,” Gandhi said.
“It is important to understand we are fighting a war with corona. Once you do that you need to realise what this virus is. Corona is not a single disease but an evolving one, it changes and transforms. The only way to stop corona is to remove the space within which it moves. Do not give it time to move. There are some temporary and some permanent ways to fight. Temporary moves which may be brutal but possibly required under certain circumstances are lockdown, social distancing, sanitisation, masks. These are temporary measures that slow the virus but don’t stop it. Vaccine is a permanent solution and without this we will continue to witness multiple waves,” he said.
Gandhi also accused the government of lying about the number of Covid-19 deaths. “Our death rate is a lie. The government is spreading that. The government should tell us the truth. Lying about death is helping coronavirus. It’s gone past politics. It is about saving people’s lives. The future of Indians is at stake.”
On whether Congress-governed states were also under-reporting deaths, Gandhi said he had “personally spoken to our CMs” and told them to report the facts.
“I have told them that there would be problems in speaking the truth, but we need to speak the truth. Whether Chhattisgarh CM or others … It may hurt but will also give us feedback. If we have to fight with Covid, we need truth. I am saying with a guarantee that the death rate of the Modi government is completely a lie, an exponential lie,” he said.
Gandhi also criticised the central government and the PM for not putting in place a system to submit feedback, which, he said, was essential to fight the disease. “The foreign minister is busy giving lectures that India has made its mark … we have carried out vaccine diplomacy. You exported vaccines … And only 3 per cent of Indians have got the vaccine.”
(Edited by Manasa Mohan)
Also read: CWC holds off polls for Congress president, to focus on ‘saving every life’ amid Covid 2nd wave
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it
India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.
But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.
Support Our Journalism
Page 2 of 2
Text Size:
New Delhi: The Congress Working Committee in a meeting Monday decided to defer the internal party elections temporarily, citing the Covid pandemic crisis in the country as the reason.
“In view of the nationwide emergent conditions prevailing on account of unprecedented Corona pandemic, the CWC was unanimous that all our energies should be channelised towards saving every life and helping every Covid affected person,” the resolution passed by the CWC stated.
Just months ago, in January, the CWC had announced that it will be hold the party’s internal polls, for the post of the party president, after the assembly elections and that the party will have a new elected president by June-end “at any cost”.
The Monday meeting was called by interim party president Sonia Gandhi, to discuss the drubbing faced by the Congress in the assembly polls. In her opening statement at the meeting, Gandhi said that a committee will be constituted to look into the results, for which those present blamed faulty alliances and the party’s lack of planning.
The CWC meeting also discussed the Covid situation in the country and the government’s handling of it.
The meeting was attended by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, chief ministers of Congress-ruled states, and the general secretaries and in-charges of the states in which the elections were held.
Rahul Gandhi, who is recovering from Covid, did not attend the meeting. The Congress leader had tested positive for the disease a few weeks ago.
Also read: ‘Spoke like a statesman’: Dissenting Congress leaders praise Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vision’ on Covid
‘Temporary delay in polls’
Right at the beginning of the meeting, Sonia Gandhi had said that the schedule for the election of party president needed to be decided. CWC members, however, did not respond too enthusiastically to the idea.
Sources said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was the first to make an objection to the proposition.
“How can we think of holding these polls amid such a big crisis? This would be very wrong,” Gehlot was quoted as saying, by a source.
Sources said that Gehlot’s statement drew agreement by other members of the CWC, including some G23 leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad. G23 is a term used for the 23 leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi last year demanding elections for the post of party president and a full time and effective leadership.
However, now, the party has once again pushed off elections for the same. Randeep Singh Surjewala, the chief party spokesperson, in a press-conference after the meet said that this is only a “temporary delay.”
“The schedule was presented, but the members were unanimously of the view that since large gatherings are prohibited right now, elections won’t be possible,” he said.
Surjewala, however, added that Sonia Gandhi “is very clear that it is not an open ended deferment, it is for two-three months, till the situation stabilises.”
Also read: Govt’s repeated chest-thumping at receiving foreign aid is ‘pathetic’, says Rahul Gandhi
Post mortem of assembly poll results
In the CWC meet, leaders also discussed the party’s poor performance in the just-concluded assembly elections. Of the five elections held, the Congress lost in Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry.
Sources said that the alliances crafted by the party in the various states were questioned at the meeting, in particular, the alliance with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) in Bengal and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam.
Jitin Prasada, the party’s in-charge in West Bengal, was quoted as having said that the alliance with ISF cost the party dearly and that long-term vision was ignored at the cost of making alliances work. There had been several rifts in the Congress during the campaign and alliance-formation phase in March over the party’s ties with the ISF.
In the case of Assam, senior leaders such as Digvijaya Singh are said to have questioned the alliance with the AIUDF, saying that it was a “bad compromise”.
In Kerala, party leaders are said to have blamed “lack of planning ahead of time” and “overconfidence” as having resulted in the loss.
Sources said that a vast majority of the four-hour-long meeting was spent talking about the pandemic and the vaccine shortage. The CWC, besides passing a resolution on deferring the internal party polls, also passed a resolution on the Covid crisis and the handling of it by the Narendra Modi government.
Alluding to the government’s Central Vista project, the Congress resolution also stated that the “Modi government is indulging in criminal waste of money, by continuing with the personal vanity project of the Prime Minister in the national capital. This is the height of callousness and insensitivity, as also an insult to the people of the country”.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Also read: How Himanta Biswa Sarma shook off Congress ‘snub’ and rose to become Assam CM
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it
India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.
But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.
Support Our Journalism
