New Delhi: Despite the nation achieving a global record on Friday by administering over 2.5 crore vaccines in a single day on the occasion of the 71st birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the extraordinary event turned into a political slugfest between the two principal parties. It all began with senior Congress leader P Chidambaram questioning the BJP ruled states why the same vigour and acceleration in administering the vaccines are not seen in other days.
Chidambaram tweeted: "BJP ruled states — UP, MP, Guj & Kar — 'perform' on the PM’s birthday and vaccinate many times the daily average. On other days, they are 'non-performing' states. I wish the PM celebrated his birthday every day."
Hours later, in a virtual interaction with healthcare workers and beneficiaries in Goa, PM Modi responded Saturday saying, “Birthdays come and go but I have been away from such things. But yesterday was emotional for me. It has become an unforgettable occasion for me."
Later taking a dig at a ‘political party,’ (without naming Congress) the Modi said that sometimes beneficiaries get side effects after taking the Covid-19 vaccine, “but after 2.5 crore people were inoculated yesterday, at 12 am last night, a political party experienced fever.”
The PM hailed the efforts of the doctors and medical staff who have been working relentlessly since the last year in combating the coronavirus pandemic. “With your efforts, India has created a world record of administering over 2.5 crore vaccines in a single day, a feat not even the most powerful nations have achieved,” he said.
“We saw how the nation kept looking at CoWIN dashboard yesterday. Over 15 lakh vaccinations per hour, over 26,000 vaccinations every minute, and over 425 people were administered vaccines each second yesterday,” Modi added.
The PM also appreciated the efforts of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in accomplishing 100 per cent vaccination of the first dose of Covid vaccines in the state. “Goa is playing important role in the success of the world’s largest and fastest vaccination drive – Sabko vaccine, muft vaccine,” he added.
