'Modi govt failed people of India; convene all-party meet on Covid-19'

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday attacked the Centre over its handling of the pandemic saying the system has not failed but the Modi government failed the people of the country and demanded that an allparty meeting be convened immediately on the Covid19 situationShe also said the partys performance in the justconcluded assembly elections was very disappointing and party MPs must draw appropriate lessons from this setback in the spirit of humility and honestyAlso Read Govts failure made another devastating national lockdown almost inevitable Rahul Gandhi in letter to PMAddressing the Congress Parliamentary Party CPP meeting virtually she said the battle against the pandemic transcends political differences and everyone has to fight it together as a nationLaunching a fierce attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi Gandhi charged that India is crippled by political leadership that has no empathy for the people She also demanded that a meeting of the the standing committees must be convened to ensure collective action and accountability to combat the pandemic betterLet us be absolutely clear the system hasnt failed The Modi government has been unable to constructively channelise Indias many strengths and resources I say this categorically India is crippled by a political leadership today that has no empathy for the people The Modi government has failed the people of our country she told the MPsShe said the Congress firmly believes that fighting the pandemic is not a Government versus Us battle but a Us versus Corona battle This battle transcends political differences We have to fight this battle together as a nation In that spirit as a first step I believe that the Modi government must urgently call an allparty meeting on the Covid19 situation she saidThe Congress Party also demands that standing committees must be convened to ensure collective action and accountability to combat the pandemic better she saidGandhi told the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge to bring to the notice of the Presiding Officer the Report of Standing Committee on Health presented in October 2020 and demand that he take action on the recommendations of the report The situation brooks no delay Tackling this crisis requires able calm and visionary leadership she saidThe nation she charged is sinking under the weight of the Modi governments indifference and incompetence and told party MPs that this is the time to rededicate themselves in the service of our peopleIndia saw a record number of 414 lakh fresh cases and around 4000 deaths in the last 24 hours Dwelling on the Congress poor performance in the assembly polls she said Most unfortunately our own performance in all the states was very disappointing and if I may say unexpectedly soThe CWC is meeting shortly to review the results but it goes without saying that we as a party collective must draw appropriate lessons from this setback in a spirit of humility and honesty she also saidThe Congress chief said the meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Committee was being held in extraordinary circumstances with India being in the grip of a deadly health disaster She said thousands have died and millions are scrambling to access basic healthcare lifesaving medicines oxygen and vaccinesIt is heartbreaking to see people battling for their lives in hospitals on roads waiting in vehicles far too many for want of any medical help at all she said And what is the Modi government doing Instead of alleviating their suffering and pain it has abdicated its fundamental responsibilities and duties towards the people she chargedShe also alleged that the governments vaccination policy is inequitable and will exclude millions of Dalits Adivasis Other Backwards Classes as well as the poor and the marginalised It is utterly shocking to see the Modi government abdicate its moral obligation and its sworn duty towards the people she saidShe also accused the Modi government of ignoring expert advice in not strengthening the supply chains for oxygen medicine and ventilatorsThe government failed to place sufficient orders for vaccines in time to meet the needs of our people she alleged adding that instead it consciously chose to allocate thousands of crores for nonessential projects that have nothing to do with the peoples wellbeing Instead of helping desperate patients some BJP governments have been using the states repressive power to arrest people merely for crying out for help she said alleging that they are cracking down on citizen groups who are trying their best to helpThey are also compelling social media platforms and the media to obfuscate the truth and ignore the pleas of desperate citizens she saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice 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