India's lockdown strategy has failed, PM should play on forefront: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the four phases of nationwide lockdown have 'failed' and not given the results that Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected. He said India is the only country in the world which is relaxing the lockdown when the virus is 'exponentially rising'.

New Delhi:Continuing his attack on Central government amid a growing number of COVID-19 cases, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the country is 'facing the result of a failed lockdown'.

"India is the only country in the world where the virus is exponentially rising and we are going to lift the lockdown. It is pretty clear that the aim and purpose of this lockdown has failed completely," said the Congress leader.

He further added, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself will accept that his plan over lockdown has failed. He has gone on the backfoot. I request him to play on the front foot. The nation wants to see its PM. We want him to reveal his Government's future strategy to fight against the crisis."

During the press conference, Gandhi clearly stated that he is not going to criticize the government over what has happened in the past and he just wants a clear view of the future strategy which Center is going to take to tackle COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that the work of opposition is to pressurize the government and steer it upon the issues which have been overlooked.

"I've not changed my stand about this crisis since February. The decision-makers are having a view that if we donate money to the poor people, then our rating will go down at the international level. I want to repeat, our country will get empowered and strengthened from inside, not from other country's ratings," he asserted.

Gandhi also pointed out that the imposing of lockdown has witnessed a lot of teething problems and a haphazard opening up could lead to a second wave of the virus, which can create a devastating situation in the country. "You need to open up in a strategic way, not in an ad-hoc manner," he said.

While concerning over the impact of this pandemic over country's economy, Rahul Gandhi said, "India was going through a very serious problem of unemployment even before and now it has now been severely hit by this pandemic. Make In India and such programs have not resulted well. Injection of money and capital to MSMEs is required. It would be fatal if we don't do it."

He also said that the economic package announced by Central Government is of no use, as the need of the hour is direct cash transfer to poor people.

Over the migrant workers, Congress leader informed that he is continuously in touch with them and trying to interact with more people to get to know about their problems.

"They have a sense of hopelessness, they feel that they have been left alone. I don't like hearing those words. I don't want a single person from our country to be left alone. Nobody should lose their faith," he said.

Gandhi said that the states cannot defeat this virus in isolation as they require support from the Central Government. While speaking about Maharashtra particularly, he said, "Connected states will face the burnt more than far off areas. Then one also has to account for the fact that there is a difference between running the government and supporting the government."

While speaking over the issue of tensions at the borders of Indian and China, Rahul Gandhi said that the Central Government should give more details about the matter and it needs to bring transparency about such issues.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)