Lockdown a failure; If govt allows, will carry migrants’ bags and walk till UP, says Rahul Gandhi

In a clear-cut departure from his approach on previous occasions, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi appeared combative yet restrained on Tuesday during an online press conference when he attacked the Modi government for failing to achieve the objective of the lockdown even as he declined to go into the past.

Addressing the presser, Rahul said, “India is facing a failed lockdown…Two months ago the PM in a televised address said that we were going to fight a 21-day fight against COVID. It was his expectation that we would defeat the virus in 21 days. We are now 60 days into the lockdown and we are the only country where the virus is exponentially rising,” said Rahul.

“It is pretty clear that the aim and purpose of our lockdown has failed. What India is facing now is the result of a failed lockdown. What we, in the Congress party and a lot of others, want to understand is what is the government’s view going forward,” added Rahul.

Asking the government to reveal its ‘Plan B’, Rahul asserted that “Four stages of lockdown have not achieved what the PM and his advisory staff had expected”.

“It is clear the disease is not decreasing but increasing. Now that we have a failed lockdown, what is their strategy going forward?” asked Rahul.

Stressing upon the need to implement a NYAY-like scheme immediately, Rahul said that the country had great expectations from the stimulus package announced by the PM but the government did not address critical issues.

He warned, “Sorry for saying this as a national leader but many MSMEs will go bankrupt, people will be unemployed and hence we are stressing that injection of money into MSMEs and the poor is required. It will be fatal if it is not done”.

When asked about Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s comments about his meeting with migrants in Delhi recently, Rahul said he learns a lot from the FM. “If they allow me, I will carry the migrants’ bags and will walk on foot till UP. I will help the migrants on the way as much as I can,” said Rahul.

On the issue of the standoff with China in Ladakh, Rahul said that transparency is needed. “Nobody knows what exactly is going on,” he said.

Here is the full video of the press conference: