The BJP Has Failed the Battle against Corona

Most people who reckoned that the BJP would respond humanely to the impending public health crisis are appalled by the indifference the ruling party has displayed. For the others it has long been clear that the BJP doesn’t care about people but only to retain power even if it means using unfair means.

From ignoring the caution sounded off by the opposition Congress party when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out to the migrant crisis it caused when it announced the lockdown, the BJP cannot escape culpability. The government believed that ignoring the problem like it does always would help them stay clear of criticism. No wonder that Prime Minister Modi is perhaps the only head of government in the world to not have held an open press conference and explained the situation to the nation. Meanwhile, the health minister appears to have no role in the affairs of the government.

As a result, we are one of the worst affected countries in the world and will soon become the 3rd worst affected country, surpassing Brazil. India witnessed the single highest spike yesterday with 24,850 cases being reported in 24 hours, with another 613 people losing their lives to Coronavirus. The cases are certainly likely to be much higher since India also has one of the lowest testing rates at a meagre 160 tests daily per million. Further, the whereabouts of 1589 patients in the Delhi-NCR region are not known, thereby putting thousands of people at risk. The government has not been effective in tracing these people and preventing the spread of the deadly disease.

The kneejerk response of an unplanned lockdown caused immense hardships to people, particularly the poor who were stranded in the cities with no source of livelihood and no assistance from the government. For a government that is devoid of empathy for the suffering masses, it is natural that it is incompetent at handling a public health crisis. Its incompetence is nearly destroying India from the inside.

The government has however been quite effective at propaganda. The BJP president JP Nadda claimed that by June end 60,000 ventilators would be made available through the PM CARES fund, the reality is that only 2923 of them have been manufactured and of them only 1340 have been delivered. Meanwhile, the BJP has begun its electioneering in full throttle and provided for TV screens in remote locations for people to listen to the empty promises of the BJP.

The government must overcome its greed to retain power and work for the welfare of the people which is its supreme priority. Merely indulging in propaganda and electioneering with empty rhetoric will not solve problems. In fact, that is compounds our problems and it is now clear that the BJP has completely abandoned people to fend for themselves. There is no attempt being made to fight the pandemic or the economic wreckage it will cause in its aftermath. It’s high time the government is held responsible and made to answer for the damage it has caused to India.

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