Congress pushes for full lockdown; says it’s the only way to stop Covid spread

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday criticised the government for its "inaction" and called the imposition of a complete lockdown the only way to stop the Covid-19 spread.

"GOI [government of India] doesn't get it. The only way to stop the spread of Corona now is a full lockdown- with the protection of NYAY for the vulnerable sections. GOI's inaction is killing many innocent people."

In the run-up to the 2019 national polls, Congress promised to implement a scheme called Nyay named after its Hindi acronym (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) if it was voted to power. Under the scheme, ₹72,000 a year was promised to the country's poorest families.

Gandhi followed it up with another tweet: "I just want to make it clear that a lockdown is now the only option because of a complete lack of strategy by GOI. They allowed, rather, they actively helped the virus reach this stage where there's no other way to stop it. A crime has been committed against India."

India on Monday became the second country in the world to record over 20 million Covid-19 cases, with 355,832 fresh cases and 3,502 deaths amid the second wave of infections in the country.

The Delhi government on Saturday extended the lockdown in the city by a week as the surging Covid-19 cases have overwhelmed the health care infrastructure. Other state governments have taken similar measures.

The Indian Medical Association on Monday demanded an immediate national lockdown to check the surge of infections.