Government lacking in its preparedness to combat coronavirus: Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress alleged on Saturday that the government was lacking in its preparedness to combat coronavirus, with senior leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation on containment measures taken so far. Congress' senior spokesperson Ajay Maken claimed the government's preparations to tackle coronavirus were not visible.

Asked about BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya's reported remarks that there were several gods and goddesses in the country and therefore coronavirus can't cause harm here, Maken said he would not like to comment on it as everyone has their own faith and beliefs, but there were questions over the government's preparedness in dealing with the spread of the disease.

"Like Rahul (Gandhi) ji has repeatedly said the government's preparedness is not visible," Maken told reporters, adding if the government is ready, then the gods and goddesses will also help us, but if it is not, then no help will come.



"So it is a matter of sadness that the government's preparations are nowhere to be seen and god forbid, if this (virus) increases tomorrow, the government preparedness is not there," he alleged.

Congress' leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, in a tweet, demanded that the prime minister addresses the nation on the present status of COVID-19 and the containment measures taken so far.

According to Health Ministry, so far 84 coronavirus cases have been reported across the country, while two persons have died due to COVID-19 disease.