Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Central Government over its ‘poll promise’ in Bihar, as per which every person in the state will get free vaccination once the COVID-19 vaccine will be available for production at a mass scale.
“GOI just announced India’s Covid access strategy. Kindly refer to the state-wise election schedule to know when will you get it, along with a hoard of false promises,” Rahul tweeted.
Earlier in the day, Union Finance Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nirmala Sitharaman released BJP’s manifesto titled ‘Paanch sutra, ek lakshya, 11 sankalp’ for Bihar assembly elections 2020.
‘As soon as the COVID-19 vaccine will be approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), every person in the State will be vaccinated,” the manifesto said.
Besides Gandhi, several other leaders mocked BJP’s election manifesto. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a tweet said, “Tum mujhe vote do main tumhe vaccine (Give me votes, I will give you vaccine)… what appalling cynicism! Will the Election Commission rap her and her shameless government on the knuckles?”
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, “Will BJP be paying for these vaccines from the party treasury? If it’s coming from the government treasury then how can Bihar get free vaccines while the rest of the country has to pay? There is so much wrong with this blatant populism that shamefully exploits COVID fears.”
