Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government after Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, in a letter, asked him and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to ensure proper Covid protocol is being followed during the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra. He alleged that the letter is aimed at “disturb” the Congress-led yatra given the number of supporters gathered when it was traversing in the state.
“The Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan was completed on the morning of 21st December, but the BJP and Modi Government are so scared of the huge crowd gathered here that the Union Health Minister wrote a letter to Mr. Rahul Gandhi on 20th December to follow the Covid protocol in Rajasthan,” Gehlot said in a series of tweets in Hindi.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s December 18 rally, Gehlot said the Health Minister should have written to the PM first if his concerns over public health were real. “The Prime Minister held a rally in Tripura two days ago where no Covid protocol was followed. In the second wave of Covid, the PM did big rallies in West Bengal. If the Union health minister’s objective is not political and his concern is justified, then he should have written the first letter to the Prime Minister,” he said.
Earlier, Mandaviya asked in the letter to follow proper Covid protocol during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, failure to which would lead to the cancellation of the yatra. The health ministry stressed on use of masks, sanitisers and that only vaccinated people should participate. The letter was sent following concerns raised by three Rajasthan MPs amid surge of Covid cases in countries including China.