‘No BF.7 protocol?’: Congress MP to Health Minister on Bharat Jodo letter to Rahul Gandhi

The Bharat Jodo Yatra began in September last year and has drawn huge crowds.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday tagged Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in a tweet as he hit out at the central government yet again, weeks after objections were raised over the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra amid concerns over spread of coronavirus. “What is this @mansukhmandaviya? To block the Bharat Jodo Yatra, after writing a letter to Rahul Gandhi, on the basis of letters of BJP MPs, on December 20, you have not issued any protocol on Omicron subvariant BF.7. Instead of doing anything serious, the Modi government is just politicising Covid,” Jairam Ramesh wrote in a tweet in Hindi.

Last month, the Health Minister insisted in the letter to Rahul that Covid guidelines should be strictly followed during the Bharat Jodo Yatra as the explosive surge of Covid cases in China “I want to bring your attention to two points: in Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan, Covid guidelines must be strictly followed. Mask and sanitiser should be used and only those who are vaccinated against covid should participate. Before and after taking part in the yatra, participants must be isolated”, the letter read. The letter came after China saw the worst outbreak in Covid cases as millions of people reportedly contracted the virus. The central government had taken a stock of the preparedness as it alerted states to remain ready and ensure implementation of Covid appropriate behaviour.

However, Mandaviya’s letter to Rahul Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot was followed by a strong pushback from Gandhi and other Congress leaders. “This yatra will go to Kashmir. Now, they have come out with a new idea. They wrote me a letter that Covid-19 was spreading, stop the yatra. Now, they are coming up with excuses to stop the yatra. Wear masks, stop the yatra, Covid is spreading, these are all excuses,” Rahul Gandhi had said at the time.

Later, the Health Minister had insisted that the issue was not political. “It’s not political at all. I am the health minister and have to take care of this. I have always followed up the progress of requirement to follow Covid-19 rules”, he had said.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is currently in Punjab, has so far covered 3,500 km, It is set to end in Kashmir later this month.

Courtesy : HT

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