'Confusion' within central government in fight against COVID-19: Cong

The Congress on Saturday said there was "confusion" within the central government in its fight against the novel coronavirus and wondered how would India tackle the pandemic if officials continued to speak in different voices. Referring to "differing" comments made by some officials on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Congress senior spokesperson Ajay Maken said the government should tell the people clearly about the exact state of the pandemic to enable them to prepare accordingly.

"It is unfortunate that those who are holding reins to fight coronavirus if they are themselves confused, how will India fight the disease," Maken said. The Congress leader said there have been many countries that have won the fight against the virus because they knew when it would peak and took steps to tackle it accordingly.

"But, it seems the government of India does not know anything. Most of the officials dealing with the virus are speaking in different voices," he said. Maken cited the example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that India will win this battle in 21 days while he imposed the first lockdown in March end. Later, Niti Aayog member VK Paul had said there would be no new cases by mid-May, while AIIMS director Randeep Guleria has opined that the virus will peak in June-July, according to Maken.

On Friday, the Congress leader said, Health Ministry joint secretary Lov Aggarwal noted that one would have to live with the virus and there will be no peak as the curve will be flattened. "Whom should we listen to. Whose advice should we listen? The government is confused. There is confusion in the government. If they are confused, how will we get confidence to fight the virus," he said. Maken said the government has to tell the people and advise everyone on how to prepare to fight the virus.

He also came down heavily on the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi and asked it to be more transparent in reporting cases of the novel coronavirus. His comments came as confusion prevailed over the number of deaths due to the coronavirus in the national capital, with data from four hospitals showing that 92 people succumbed to the infection as against 68 fatalities reported by the Delhi government.

He said it was a "matter of shame" that the national capital was witnessing "a sorry state of affairs" in the fight against the pandemic. Maken alleged that the Delhi government is trying to fill its own coffers in such times of crisis and it should keep the people's interests foremost in such times rather than keeping their own interests.

The Congress leader said there should be more coordination between states and the central government. He also called upon the central government to spell out a clear lockdown-exit policy.