Rahul Gandhi is instructed to observe Covid protocol by the health minister; Congress questions why only us
Rahul Gandhi was asked by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to either adhere to “all Covid-19 requirements” during his Bharat Jodo Yatra or postpone it “in the national good.” The Congress retaliated against the government on Wednesday, accusing it of targeting only its program.
Please make sure that all Covid-19 guidelines are strictly followed, masks and sanitizers are used, and only those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 participate in the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan, Mandaviya requested in a letter to Rahul and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday. A person must withdraw both before and after the yatra… Please halt the Bharat Jodo Yatra if it is not possible to adhere to these Covid-19 standards, taking in mind the public health situation.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya y’day wrote to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi & Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot.
Letter reads that COVID guidelines be strictly followed during Bharat Jodo Yatra & use of masks-sanitiser be implemented; mentions that only vaccinated people participate pic.twitter.com/cRIyZz0DLY
— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2022
The yatra entered Haryana on Wednesday morning after finishing its leg in Rajasthan on Tuesday.
Mandaviya claimed he wrote the letter in response to a letter from three Rajasthani MPs in which they claimed numerous yatra participants had caught the virus. He claimed that the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who took part in the yatra a few days earlier, also tested positive.
“I interviewed government specialists, and based on our conversations, I drafted letters to Gehlot and Gandhi. I urged them to use due caution and adhere to Covid guidelines. But ever since this morning, I’ve been interrogated. It is my duty as the Health Minister of the Government of India to prevent the spread of Covid, stated Mandaviya.
Congress leaders enquired as to whether he would send comparable letters to the BJP branches in Rajasthan and Karnataka, which are also planning yatras.
The communications-tasked general secretary of the AICC, Jairam Ramesh, noted that Parliament was doing regular business and that masks were no longer required everywhere, including on aeroplanes. “In Rajasthan and Karnataka, the BJP has organised yatras. Except for the one given yesterday regarding genome sequencing, the Center has not recently issued any advisories to the states. Recall that the Modi government postponed the implementation of lockdown in March 2020 by at least a week in order to facilitate the overthrow of the Madhya Pradesh Congress government, he added.
He continued, “If there is a protocol for gatherings, the Bharat Jodo Yatra will surely adhere by it,” saying that “public health is far too critical a subject on which to play party politics.”
“On the basis of a letter written to him by a BJP MP from Rajasthan who claims that Bharat Jodo Yatra has not been adhering to the recommendations in the letter, the Union Health Minister writes to Rahul Gandhi.
Covid procedure. After the huge success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in his state, this MP wrote the letter, Ramesh stated. “I can see why the BJP is frightened and insecure,
after witnessing the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s success, difficulty.
The head of the AICC communications department, Pawan Khera, made similar remarks. We question why Satish, the president of the BJP in Rajasthan, did not receive a similar letter.
Poonia, who is there performing a Jan Akrosh Yatra. We are aware that the Jan Akrosh Yatra has not gotten much of a response. There are no inhabitants there.
He asked: “Has the health minister also issued this letter to the Karnataka BJP? The BJP is also organising a yatra, he remarked. We are curious. No one would require you to use hand sanitizer or wear a mask today if you were to fly. He questioned why India’s government hadn’t imposed strict regulations on public transportation.
“Why just Bharat Jodo Yatra, why just Rahul Gandhi, why just the Congress party? Has the Parliamentary session been postponed? Why are you singling out Rahul Gandhi and the Bharat Jodo Yatra when other events like the Jan Akrosh Yatra, the BJP Yatra in Karnataka, and the physical Parliament may all take place? We will all adhere to the Covid protocol, so please declare it,” he urged.
Gehlot accused the BJP of trying to stifle the surge of support for the Congress that the yatra had produced in a series of tweets. “This amply demonstrates that BJP’s
The Bharat Jodo Yatra is being disrupted in an effort to counter the growing popular support. The Prime Minister held a rally in Tripura two days ago without following the Covid protocol. The PM spoke at sizable rallies in Bengal during the second Covid wave. He claimed that the Union Health Minister should have written the first letter to the Prime Minister if his concern was legitimate and his goal was not political.
In response to the criticism from the Congress, Mandaviya claimed that by being subjected to such questions at the urging of a “particular family,” it was being prevented from performing his responsibility. “I am a minor participant in Pradhan Sevak’s team… How do I question unique individuals? I don’t have any solutions if that is the attitude, he remarked.
