The ruling BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing a lot of criticism, nationally and internationally, for the alleged mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis.

Also read: PM Modi missing as India battler COVID, says Rahul Gandhi 

The opposition parties have mounted the attack on the ruling party claiming that the PM Modi government “knew of the impending crisis…and yet they chose to look away”. The current regime, led by the leader who was given the massive mandate twice by the people of India, has come up with a point-by-point rebuttal of the opposition’s “narratives”.

In a Twitter post, the BJP said, “They (opposition) have been using the pandemic for their vested political interests. But the truth can’t be suppressed”. 

And then added “the facts” to counter “narratives” against the government.

Narrative – (PM) Modi or government did not see second wave coming

“Truth” – “On March 17, 2021, at a COVID review meeting with CMs, PM Modi alerted states about a second wave coming and asked them to take quick steps before it gets too late.This was when India still had only 30,000 new cases per day!”

Narrative – States were not warned about 2nd wave

“Truth”- “We already read about the PM’s warning in March 2021. People like Mamata Banerjee & Bhupesh Baghel, busy in elections, actually missed the PM’s meeting! This apart, multiple advisories & communications were sent to states in the first few months of 2021 about the surge in cases.”

Also read: Election Commission moves SC against Madras HC’s murder remarks 

Narrative – India has the highest number of cases in the world!

“Truth” – “India has more people than Europe and North America put together. So, in absolute numbers, India will obviously be higher. But in terms of cases and deaths per million population, India stands at 110th place in the world or so!”

Narrative – Modi’s Bengal rallies and Kumbh caused second wave

“Truth” – “Farmer protests egged on by politicians, rallies by Rahul Gandhi in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, all those pushups he did, etc were COVID- 19 proof, right? The second wave took off from Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Punjab. Kera la’s election rallies were mainly by Congress & the Left. In the other states, there were no elections or Kumbh. Latest data actually suggests that Punjab, the epicentre of farmer protests, was the origin of the second wave!”

Also read: Religious, Political gatherings among reasons behind India’s COVID surge: WHO 

Narrative – Why did India export vaccines while denying it to our own people?

“Truth” – This is nonsense. Indians have been given over 17 crore doses so far. The number of doses sent abroad is only about 1/3rd of this. Most such doses were part of GAVrs effort to send vaccines to poor countries & contractual obligations of vaccine manufacturers.

Narrative – Poor people won’t get free vaccines

“Truth” – “Of the total vaccines that will be procured, 50% is procured by the Centre. These are given to states free of cost. Additionally, many BJ P ruled states have also declared free vaccines for all!”

Narrative – Price of vaccine is different for states and Centre

“Truth” – “Price of vaccines to states is a quote by private companies & not a government declared price. States are free to negotiate and get a price they deem fit. After all, it was the states that asked for freedom to negotiate & procure.”

Also read: Covaxin to cost Rs 600 dose in State hospitals, Rs 1200 in private hospitals 

Narrative – Deaths are being under-reported

“Truth”- Some media houses say the government is incompetent at fighting the pandemic. Yet the same people say the government is so super-competent that they are running a completely organised under-reporting racket including even Congress-ruled states. Absurd, isn’t it?

Also read: Is India’s official COVID death toll an undercount? Yes says, expert 

Narrative (a question)- So, is Govt of India’s data on COVID deaths 100% accurate?

“Truth”- “There is no ‘Govt of India’ data. All the data comes from states. Whatever they report is collated & shown. In a country like India, there’s no way someone can hide deaths. Some people show burning pyres only to shock you, but w.r.t data, it doesn’t mean anything. Burning pyres can be seen even without a pandemic in crematoriums.”

Narrative (a question)- Why not spend money on fighting COVID than on Central Vista?

“Truth” – “Central Vista is a project that costs Rs 20,000 crore over several years. In contrast, the vaccination budget in just 2021 22 is Rs 35,000 crore and the health budget of the country injust 2021·22 is over Rs 2 lakh crore, about 10times that of Central Vista cost!”

Narrative – It’ll Take 2 3 years to fully vaccinate India

“Truth” – “India vaccinated only healthcare workers, frontline workers & senior citizens in its first few vaccination phases. Deciding overall vaccination pace based on the pace of vaccination during such specifically small sections of the population is erroneous. Vaccination was fully opened for all only on May 1.”

Narrative – Sigh,if only we had New Zealand’s PM for India…

“Truth” – “Sigh, if only people had better IQ. New Zealand’s population is less than Bengaluru! If North America & Europe were one country, they’d still have fewer people than India. Plus, they’d still have 4 times more COVID cases than India and about 6 times more COVID deaths!”

And the Congress, which is mostly dormant and wakes up only when they find an issue to target the BJP or PM Modi, took less than a few minutes to respond to the BJP’s 12-point explanation-cum-rebutal-cum-‘truth’.

This political bickering comes as India is struggling to contain a massive surge of COVID-19 infections and deaths, with daily numbers now over three lakh for more than three weeks now. The exceptional number of cases has brought India’s healthcare system to its knees and stressed the need for rapid vaccination, which began on January 16 and over 17.7 crore doses have been administered so far. However, full vaccine coverage is still less than 2.5 % of the total population.

The mass vaccination drive has also disrupted the demand-supply chain of COVID vaccines, and further back and forth between states and the Centre. The opposition, on every possible occasion, has attacked the government over the shortage of vaccines and oxygen supply.

But the hard ‘truth’ about this ‘narrative’ is that in this political blame game between the ruling party and the opposition, the people of India are the ones on the losing side.