‘BJP has institutionalised lies’: Rahul Gandh
NEW DELHI : Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, accusing it of “institutionalised lies” and warning that “India will pay the price” for the Narendra Modi administration’s poor handling of the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic and the border stand-off with China.
Mr Gandhi tweeted: “BJP has institutionalised lies. 1. Covid19 by restricting testing and misreporting deaths. 2. GDP by using a new calculation method. 3. Chinese aggression by frightening the media. The illusion will break soon and India will pay the price”.
He also attached a Washington Post article titled: “As India skyrockets past 1 million coronavirus cases, a mystery surrounds death toll”. A tenacious critic of the government, Mr Gandhi has stepped up his tweets over the past weeks and months, particularly after the novel coronavirus pandemic struck India.
Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has institutionalised lies” and stated that the party is fudging data on virus-related deaths and the country’s GDP figures. He also accused the Central government of frightening the media on the issue of LAC standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.
“BJP has institutionalised lies. 1. Covid19 by restricting the testing and misreporting deaths. 2. GDP by using a new calculation method. 3. Chinese aggression by frightening the media. The illusion will break soon and India will pay the price, (sic)” he tweeted.
The Congress leader attached an article by an international publication along with his tweet on the micro-blogging site.
Mr Gandhi has been constantly attacking the Modi govt over a range of key issues accusing them of lying to the nation.
The Wayanad MP then increased the frequency and vigour of his attacks last month, following Chinese intrusion into Indian territory and the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers in Ladakh.
On Saturday he warned that India would pay “for the government’s cowardice” over the China stand-off, suggesting it was following an ill-advised policy of appeasement. This followed last month’s criticism of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in which he claimed the government was hiding behind “paid media”.
“China has taken our land and GoI (Government of India) is behaving like Chamberlain. This will further embolden China. India is going to pay a huge price because of GoI’s cowardly actions,” Rahul said in a tweet attaching a video of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addressing the armed forces in Ladakh during his visit to the forward areas.
Rajnath Singh said during his visit to the eastern Ladakh region on Friday, “India wants peace but there is no guarantee of the final outcome of talks with China.”
Last week Mr Gandhi took on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who said India was in a “good position” to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Days later, India recorded over 10 lakh COVID-19 cases and will likely cross 11 lakh by Tuesday.
Mr Gandhi has also been critical of the government’s handling of the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown, pointing out that experts’ call to inject cash into the hands of the poorest sections of society – those most affected by the crisis – remained unheeded.
“So today, you have a country which is economically in trouble, trouble as far as foreign policy is concerned, in trouble with its neighbours and that’s why the Chinese have decided that this is possibly this time to act. And that is why they have acted,” he summed up yesterday, in a tweet explaining why, according to him, China had acted aggressively in Ladakh.
(With Agency Inputs ).
