Save your own lives as PM Modi busy with peacocks, Rahul Gandhi tells 'Atmanirbhar' Indians

Taking a dig at PM Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked 'Atmanirbhar' Indians to save their own lives as the prime minister was busy with peacocks.

In a tweet, Gandhi said, "India's coronavirus cases will cross 50 lakh this week and active cases will cross 10 lakh. Unplanned lockdown was the gift of one man's ego, which led to the spread of coronavirus across the country.

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"Modi government said become 'Aatmanirbhar' (self-sufficient) which means save your life yourself because the PM is busy with peacocks," the former Congress chief added in a clear reference to a recent video showing the prime minister feeding peacocks.

The 50-year-old MP from Kerala's Wayanad was referring to PM Modi's call for "self-reliance" amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Attacking the government over spike in Covid-19 cases, Gandhi accused the government of implementing the lockdown without a plan. "The unplanned lockdown is a product of a person's ego causing the coronavirus to spread across the country," Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.

India's Covid-19 case tally crossed 48 lakh on Monday with 92,071 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 79,722 with 1,136 people succumbing to the infection in a span of 24 hours.