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New Delhi: BJP organisation general secretary B.L. Santosh has sharply hit out at the critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who have questioned his video message urging Indians to light candles and lamps for nine minutes at 9 pm on 5 April to “defeat the despair” brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Usual suspects are disappointed by @narendramodi s message .They want facts , figures & new policies. They are the same people who can’t manage the single kid they have or the pet without a maid . He has to manage a country of 130 Cr people & most disruptive liberal eco system (sic),” Santhosh said in a tweet Friday.

Usual suspects are disappointed by @narendramodi s message .They want facts , figures & new policies. They are the same people who can’t manage the single kid they have or the pet without a maid . He has to manage a country of 130 Cr people & most disruptive liberal eco system . — B L Santhosh (@blsanthosh) April 3, 2020

“Everyday a joint press conference is held by Govt . All questions are answered with facts , figures there . These usual suspects think it is below dignity to attend or listen to it. Like a guardian he is instilling confidence & hand holding the countrymen . #IndiaFightsCorona (sic),” added Santhosh.

Also read: How India can buck the trend of global recession caused by coronavirus

What the opposition said

Soon after the PM’s video message early Friday, Congress leaders P. Chidambaram, Shashi Tharoor and Kapil Sibal questioned Modi on invoking religion and superstition rather than providing specific details of government preparedness in containing the virus, and efforts to revive the Indian economy after the lockdown is lifted.

“Dear @narendramodi, We will listen to you and light diyas on April 5. But, in return, please listen to us and to the wise counsel of epidemiologists and economists,” Chidambaram said on Twitter in a jibe at the PM.

Dear @narendramodi,

We will listen to you and light diyas on April 5. But, in return, please listen to us and to the wise counsel of epidemiologists and economists. — P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 3, 2020

The former finance minister added that there was an expectation of the second part of relief package for the poor “including for those categories of poor who were totally ignored by @nsitharaman on 25-3-2020”.

Tharoor, the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said, “Listened to the Pradhan Showman. Nothing about how to ease people’s pain, their burdens, their financial anxieties. No vision of the future or sharing the issues he is weighing in deciding about the post-lockdown. Just a feel-good moment curated by India’s Photo-Op PrimeMinister! (sic).”

Listened to the Pradhan Showman. Nothing about how to ease people’s pain, their burdens, their financial anxieties. No vision of the future or sharing the issues he is weighing in deciding about the post-lockdown. Just a feel-good moment curated by India’s Photo-Op PrimeMinister! — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 3, 2020

In another tweet, he said the PM was invoking “auspicious elements” associated with Hinduism.

This is no accident: the PM spoke on Ram Navami at 9 am for 9 mins, asked us to light diyas & candles on 5/4 at 9 pm for 9 mins. He is invoking all the auspicious elements Hinduism associates with number 9. Back to Ram Bharose?! #COVID19 must be more serious than we thought! — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 3, 2020

Senior party leader Kapil Sibal listed out a number of things that he “learnt nothing about” from the video. He went on to urge the PM to “light the diya of reason, not that of superstition”.

Modiji Learnt nothing about government’s steps to 1) contain the virus

2) protect our medical practitioners

3) provide testing kits

4) reach food and supplies to the poor

5) finance migrant labour , the jobless Light the ‘ Diya ‘ of reason

Not that of superstition ! — Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) April 3, 2020

What BJP said

While the Congress leaders took the opportunity to take on PM Modi, BJP leaders, including party president J.P. Nadda, and Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Prakash Javadekar and Smriti Irani, didn’t react to the criticism. All of them only asked Indians to respond to the PM’s call by lighting lamps.

However, replying to Tharoor’s tweet, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, If You all from @INCIndia don’t want to light a candle to stand in solidarity with India ..if that’s too much of a pain for you Congress people ..so be it ..stay in darkness..but at least don’t forget to put off that “TUBELIGHT”!! (sic)”.

If You all from @INCIndia don’t want to light a candle to stand in solidarity with India ..if that’s too much of a pain for you Congress people ..so be it ..stay in darkness..but at least don’t forget to put off that “TUBELIGHT”!! https://t.co/RytAF1WmSq — Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) April 3, 2020

Soon after the PM posted his message on social media platforms, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan also appeared at a government press conference to respond to questions about India’s preparedness.

The minister spoke about how India was preparing and augmenting its infrastructure to fight the epidemic even before the World Health Organisation instruction arrived.

Also read: Arvind Kejriwal confused migrants to trigger exodus from Delhi: Bihar deputy CM Sushil Modi

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