Gopal Krishna Agarwal said that Rahul Gandhi used Rajiv Bajaj as a “bouncing wall” for his ideas
New Delhi:
The central government has opted for a lockdown to prevent large-scale deaths from COVID-19 as its priority was to save lives and build health infrastructure during the period to cope with the pandemic, the BJP said on Thursday .
The party downplayed remarks by industrialist Rajiv Bajaj, who criticized the government’s handling of the pandemic for its huge negative impact on the economy, in its conversation with Congressman Rahul Gandhi, saying that ” is not an expert “on the health crisis.
BJP economic spokesman Gopal Krishna Agarwal said Rahul Gandhi used Mr. Bajaj as a “bouncing wall” for his ideas during the conversation in which the Leader of the Opposition made “the gist” of the discussions.
“Everyone has the right to have an opinion but Rajiv Bajaj is not an expert on COVID-19 and how to manage it,” he said.
Amit Malviya of the BJP spoke to the industrialist, noting that he “welcomed” Sweden’s strategy of not imposing a lock to deal with the pandemic, even if the country’s chief epidemiologist admitted that this approach was a mistake, resulting in a high death rate. .
Agarwal added that many countries have “failed” in their approach to the pandemic, and that there is no fixed model.
Locking is not a cure for coronavirus, everyone knows it, he said.
The lock-up has given India time to strengthen the country’s poor health infrastructure to cope with the pandemic, he said, adding that India had no manufacturing capacity for PPE or masks and depended on their import when the lockdown started on March 25.
Now the infrastructure has been built, he added.
The economy would certainly suffer even if there were no foreclosure due to the severity of the pandemic, said Agarwal.
“The government had the opportunity to kill people on a large scale … or to slow down the economy. It went to protect people. It was a priority,” he said.
Bajaj said India had put in place a “draconian” lock which was porous and resulted in the “worst of both worlds” as it resulted in the decimation of its economy and the flattening of the curve of GDP instead of that of coronavirus infections.
He said reopening the economy was a Herculean task and called for removing fear from people’s minds through a “very clear and aligned story” from none other than the Prime Minister.
