Mandaviya claimed he wrote the letter in response to a letter from three Rajasthani MPs in which they claimed numerous yatra participants had caught the virus. He claimed that the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who took part in the yatra a few days earlier, also tested positive.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya asked Rahul Gandhi to either adhere to “all Covid-19 requirements” during his Bharat Jodo Yatra or postpone it “for the national good.” The Congress retaliated against the government on Wednesday, accusing it of targeting only its program.
On Tuesday, in a letter to Rahul and the chief minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, Mandaviya wrote: “Please ensure that in the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan, all Covid-19 guidelines are strictly followed, masks and sanitizers are used, and only those vaccinated against Covid-19 participate. People must isolate themselves before and after they join the yatra… If it is impossible to follow these Covid-19 protocols, then, keeping the public health situation in mind, please suspend the Bharat Jodo Yatra in the national interest….”
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya y’day wrote to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi & Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot.
Letter reads that COVID guidelines be strictly followed during Bharat Jodo Yatra & use of masks-sanitiser be implemented; mentions that only vaccinated people participate pic.twitter.com/cRIyZz0DLY
— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2022
The yatra completed its Rajasthan leg on Tuesday and entered Haryana on Wednesday morning.
Mandaviya claimed he wrote the letter in response to a letter from three Rajasthani MPs in which they claimed numerous yatra participants had caught the virus. He claimed that the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who took part in the yatra a few days earlier, also tested positive.
“I consulted experts in the ministry and, based on those discussions; I wrote letters to both Gehlot and Gandhi. I asked them to take adequate precautions and follow Covid protocol. But, since this morning, I have been subjected to questioning… As the Health Minister of the Government of India, it is my responsibility to ensure that Covid doesn’t spread,” Mandaviya stated.
Congress leaders enquired whether he would send comparable letters to the BJP branches in Rajasthan and Karnataka, also planning yatras.
The communications-tasked general secretary of the AICC, Jairam Ramesh, noted that Parliament was doing regular business and that masks were no longer required everywhere, including on airplanes. “The BJP has organized yatras in Rajasthan and Karnataka. There has been no advisory from the Centre to states of late, except the one issued yesterday on genome sequencing. It also bears recall that in March 2020, the Modi government delayed imposition of lockdown by at least a week to enable the toppling of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh,” he said.
He continued, “If there is a protocol for gatherings, the Bharat Jodo Yatra will surely adhere to it,” saying that “public health is far too critical a subject on which to play party politics.”
“Based on a letter written to him by a BJP MP from Rajasthan who claims that Bharat Jodo Yatra has not been adhering to the recommendations in the letter, the Union Health Minister writes to Rahul Gandhi.
Covid procedure. After the huge success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in his state, this MP wrote the letter, Ramesh stated. “I can see why the BJP is frightened and insecure,
after witnessing the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s success and difficulty.
The head of the AICC communications department, Pawan Khera, made similar remarks. We question why Satish, the president of the BJP in Rajasthan, has yet to receive a similar letter.
Poonia, who is there performing a Jan Akrosh Yatra. We are aware that the Jan Akrosh Yatra has yet to get much of a response. There are no inhabitants there.
He asked: “Has the health minister also issued this letter to the Karnataka BJP? The BJP is also organizing a yatra, he remarked. We are curious. No one would require you to use hand sanitizer or wear a mask today if you were to fly. He questioned why India’s government had yet to impose strict regulations on public transportation.
“Why just Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party, and Bharat Jodo Yatra? Have they postponed the Parliament session? If physical Parliament can take place, if the Jan Akrosh Yatra can take place, if the BJP yatra in Karnataka can take place, and if there is no mask compulsory in air travel, why are you picking on Rahul Gandhi and Bharat Jodo Yatra? Please announce Covid protocol, and we will follow it,” he stated.
Gehlot accused the BJP of trying to stifle the surge of support for the Congress that the yatra had produced in a series of tweets. “This demonstrates unequivocally that the BJP’s goal is to obstruct the Bharat Jodo Yatra out of concern about the growing public support. The Prime Minister held a rally in Tripura two days ago without following the Covid protocol. The PM spoke at sizable rallies in Bengal during the second Covid wave. He claimed that the Union Health Minister should have written the first letter to the Prime Minister if his concern was legitimate and his goal was not political.
In response to the criticism from Congress, Mandaviya claimed that by being subjected to such questions at the urging of a “particular family,” he was being prevented from performing his responsibility. “I am a small member of pradhan sevak’s team…How can I question special people? If that is the mindset, then I don’t have any answers,” he said.
