"Disagree With PM On Many Issues But Not The Time To Fight": Rahul Gandhi

Coronavirus: Rahul Gandhi said testing is critical to check the COVID-19 pandemic

Rahul Gandhi today commented on what he called Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "style" while he suggested a decentralized approach to fighting coronavirus in the country. "I would like to see more power to be decentralised to states. The Prime Minister should have a more detailed conversation with states. But Modi ji has a different style of working and we can work around that style," the Congress leader said.

"I may and do disagree with PM Modi on various matters but now is not the time to fight."

COVID-19 cannot be controlled; it has to be dynamically managed, said Mr Gandhi. States needed to have more power to tackle the contagion in their way.

"The centre needs to control the main arteries but states need to control their area. If some states want more nuanced lockdown, they should have the choice," he said.

But he repeatedly stressed that he did not want to go into any criticism or post-mortem of decisions like the nationwide lockdown. "I don't want to go into the question of why we are in this position but testing is critical to ensure that non-hotspot areas don't become hotspots," he said.

"Today I want to give constructive advice. I don't want to get into any tu-tu-main-main."

A lockdown, he said, would help only to stop the virus for a short while, but in no way could defeat it. "The only way to do this is to increase testing. We are chasing the virus. We need to go beyond and this is my advice to the government. We need to test aggressively and strategically," said the Congress leader.