Toolkit politics: Congress MPs slam BJP, say govt has failed on all fronts 

BENGALURU: The Congress on Wednesday came down heavily on the BJP for its “toolkit” claims, saying they were just attempts to divert the media’s attention from the ground situation, especially as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been getting bad press, both in India and abroad, for his failure to handle the pandemic. 

Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh slammed the government, saying that when every nation had taken precautionary measures for the second wave, the Indian government had failed completely. “What has PM Modi’s lighting of lamps and plate banging done? Lamps in many houses have been snuffed out. This government is responsible for their deaths,” he alleged. 

Foreign media, too, has been critical of the Indian government, he said. “Yediyurappa only offers a package of Rs 50,000 to cremate bodies. The sum of Rs 2,000-3,000 offered by the government is so meagre it does not even cover transport cost,’’ he said. Suresh also spoke of his constituents’ struggle to get beds and oxygen. 

AICC spokesman Brijesh Kalappa said the BJP was using the toolkit issue to divert the attention of the media from the barrage of criticism the government was receiving. He said reputed medical journals like the Lancet had criticized the Modi government for Covid management. The BJP is blaming the Congress for a ‘toolkit’, he said, alleging that BJP leaders JP Nadda, Sambit Patra, BL Santhosh, Tejasvi Surya and others are responsible for it, and can be punished for up to seven years for forgery for creating it. 

Rajya Sabha MP Syed Nasir Hussain said the government was fudging data on deaths, as were Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other states. “Who will take responsibility for the scores of bodies floating down the Ganga?” Hussain asked.

He also wanted to know why the government was unable to import vaccines earlier, and make them available to the people.MPs L Hanumanthaiah and GC Chandrashekar said the government had bungled badly on two issues — managing Covid and the vaccine drive.