india

Updated: Mar 06, 2020 12:23 IST

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday took a sharp swipe at Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan for his attempt to assure people that the government was on the top of the health crisis.

Soon after the health minister spoke in both houses of Parliament to update members about the steps taken by the government, Gandhi picked on his assurance that the situation was under control to tweet his attack.

“The health minister saying that the Indian government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable,” Gandhi said in a tweet.

Over the last few weeks, the Congress leader has been nudging the government on the microblogging site to take the infection a lot more seriously than he thinks, the government does.

On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi demanded that the government share its action plan too and not just assurances.

“It’s time the government made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis,” Rahul Gandhi said.

In his statement to Parliament, health minister said the Centre had asked the states to form rapid response teams at the district, block and village levels since instances of community transmission had been observed. The government has confirmed 29 cases of the infection including 16 Italian tourists. This figure includes the country’s first three cases reported from Kerala last month. The three have since recovered.

Gandhi’s tweet did not allude to a controversial remark by Rashtriya Loktantrik Party lawmaker Hanuman Beniwal that underscored the number of cases reported from Italy.

According to news agency Press Trust of India, he sought a probe to ascertain if the coronavirus is being spread from the “home” of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Congress members had stormed the Well of the House as soon as Hanuman Beniwal made the remark and shouting slogans, tearing papers and throwing some on the table of the Speaker, the PTI report said. Rajendra Agarwal, who was in the chair, immediately adjourned the House.