Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and other BJP leaders on Wednesday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after the latter accused the Government of India of under-reporting COVID-19 casualties. Sharing a screengrab from a New York Times report, the Congress MP accused the Centre of lying about the relevant data.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, India's death toll has reached record highs in recent weeks. But even as the list of fatalities grows longer, many accuse states of under-reporting their case tally and death toll. While various accounts have emerged, some contend that the death toll is actually 10 times more than what is being reported.
The NYT screengrab shared by Gandhi features several options, ranging from the official numbers to conservative and realistic scenarios and finally to the worst case scenario. "Numbers don’t lie... GOI does," Gandhi captioned it.
Needless to say, the post has not gone down well with the ruling party and its supporters. While many slammed the Wayanad MP for choosing to follow the NYT, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan dubbed him a "vulture".
"Politics on corpses, INC India Style! Although vultures are disappearing from trees, it seems their spirit has been absorbed by vultures of the earth," he retorted.
Others including BJP leader Amit Malviya have also pointed out that the data in question was compiled using the information provided by various states of India, including those governed by the Congress.
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