BJP President JP Nadda praised Prime Minister Modi’s handling of the Covid pandemic during a campaign rally in Bihar
Patna:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi did what US President Donald Trump could not and “saved the country” from the novel coronavirus, BJP President JP Nadda said Thursday during a campaign rally in Darbhanga, the Bihar, who will go to the polls on Saturday in the final round of voting.
Praising the centre’s handling of a pandemic that has so far infected nearly 84 lakh and killed more than 1.24 lakh nationwide, Nadda referred to the ongoing US presidential election and multiple criticism of Mr. Trump’s handling of the Covid situation – an issue that has featured prominently in the campaign of his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden.
“The results of the US election are being declared and the allegation against Donald Trump is that he could not properly deal with COVID-19. But Modiji saved the country and its 130 crore population by making timely decisions, ”Nadda said, quoted by ANI news agency.
#WATCH: US election results declared and allegation against Donald Trump is that he could not properly handle COVID-19, but Modi ji saved the country with a population of 130 crore by making a timely decision: the president from BJP JP Nadda in Darbhanga#BiharElectionspic.twitter.com/Rs67IHqHDL
– ANI (@ANI) November 5, 2020
India, the second country most affected by the Covid pandemic, is 11 lakh behind the United States. This morning, more than 50,000 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours – the first time since October 26 that the mark has been breached – amid concerns of an increase in the number of cases over the holiday season .
The center has frequently compared figures from more developed countries to indicate that India is in a relatively better position (fewer cases and deaths relative to population size), but experts have questioned the strategy of lockdown and possible underreporting of Covid numbers.
In response, the center underscored its lockdown strategy to say that the impact of the virus could have been much worse if “timely decisions,” as Mr Nadda said today, had not been made.
Bihar, facing a massive influx of migrants who had left the state in search of work but were forced to return due to the lockdown, has so far recorded more than two lakh cases and 1,000 deaths .
The migrants, who number more than 32 lakh, were promised jobs by Nitish Kumar, but many were disappointed by the state government’s inability to provide jobs – which provided ammunition to opposition leaders like Tejashwi Yadav.
Mr Yadav’s pledge of 10 lakh government jobs captured the imagination of voters and angered Nitish Kumar, especially since his ally, the BJP, then responded by pledging 19 lakh jobs.
Nitish Kumar dismissed Mr. Yadav’s promise of employment as “bogus”. It is not known whether Mr Kumar extended this remark to the BJP promise.
The campaign for the third and final phase of elections in Bihar ends today, with voting for 78 seats set to begin early Friday morning. The election results are expected on November 10.
With the contribution of ANI
