Facing a combined opposition attack over Modi governments’ COVID-19 strategy, the ruling BJP has decided to take the bull by horns, planning a month-long campaign from June citing the ‘nation’s united fight” against the pandemic and vowing to take to people the Prime Minister’s ‘atmanirbhar’ pitch to mark the first anniversary of Modi 2.0 government on May 30.
A day after releasing a 30-page booklet titled "Who is trying to weaken India's fight against Covid?" which accused the Congress of weakening the fight against the pandemic, the BJP on Thursday unveiled plans to hold digital rallies across the country which it called “virtual samvad’. BJP president JP Nadda will also address the party workers through Facebook Live on this occasion
Besides, all the seven wings of the BJP will also hold 500 digital rallies separately to address their respective constituencies including youth, women, farmers, Scheduled Castes, OBCs and women,
“Dedicated to public service, BJP is walking shoulder to shoulder with the Modi government and while the government is taking big decisions for people’s safety, the party with its network of crores of workers is serving the people in various ways. Under the #FeedTheNeedy campaign, BJP’s 8.23 lakh workers in 909 district offices served food to 19 crore people and provided food packets to more than four crore people. In another campaign #WearFaceCoverStaySafe, the party distributed more than five crore face masks,” BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav said in an address through video conference.
In face of the massive attack from Congress and other Opposition parties, which described the government’s lockdown strategy a failure, Yadav expressed confidence that the country would triumph in the fight against COVID-19 and announced the party workers will distribute a letter written by the Prime Minister to 10 crore households in which Modi has talked about the steps taken by the central government during this difficult situation.
The BJP has decided to hold at least one such event in every district and drive home the message of safety measures from COVID-19 to 10 crore homes during which party workers will also explain to people the significance of Indians adopting the use of indigenous products to make an "Atmanirbhar Bharat”
The BJP also fielded Union Minister Smriti Irani separately to counter the attack of Congress, whereby she accused the main Opposition party of doing “cheap politics” taking the cover of the pandemic. “Congress is trying to weaken the resolve of the nation when not only the states but even the district administrative units are working together in the leadership of the Prime Minister against the pandemic,” she alleged.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had slammed Rahul Gandhi for allegedly acting in the "most irresponsible" manner and spreading "falsehoods and misrepresentation of facts" while he released the booklet that compiled Gandhi's comments against the government vis a vis positive reports about the Modi government's efforts to combat COVID-19.
BJP spokesperson GVL Narsinma Rao had accused Gandhi of indulging in “camera politics” and doing “politics of misery” over the issue of migrants after Congress released a video of Rahul interacting with a group of migrants on move in the national capital.