Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has stepped up attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for one of his old election speeches promising voters to build more shamshan (crematorium for Hindus). Gandhi launched the tirade amidst BJP-ruled states struggling to cremate dead bodies amidst an alarming rise in the COVID-19 cases.
Borrowing Modi’s old election tagline jo kaha so kiya (delivered what was promised), Gandhi wrote, “Both shamshan and qabristan, delivered what was promised.” He ended his tweet with hashtag #ModiMadeDisaster.
शमशान और क़ब्रिस्तान दोनों… जो कहा सो किया।#ModiMadeDisaster
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 17, 2021
His attack against Modi came as visuals of dead bodies being cremated in scores in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, all BJP-ruled states, stunned netizens.
Addressing an election rally in Fatehpur in UP in 2017, Modi had said, “If you create qabristan (graveyard for Muslims) in a village, then a shamshaan (cremation ground) should also be created. If electricity is given uninterrupted in Ramzaan (Holy month for Muslims), then it should be given in Diwali without a break. there should be no discrimination.”
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi’s sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too slammed PM Modi for having no policy on the vaccination drive. Attcking the government for first exporting crores of vaccines abroad to now being forced to import them, Priyanka wrote, “Shocking that while COVID ravages India, from being a vaccine exporter, it has been compelled to become a vaccine importer undoing 70 years of govt effort. @narendramodi : the pilot who had his photo plastered on boarding passes only to press the eject button during an emergency.”