Kolhapur, Oct 24 (UNI) Former Maharashtra CM and Congress senior leader Prithviraj Chavan on Sunday attacked the BJP-led Centre on several fronts, including the COVID vaccination drive and three farm bills among other prominent issues.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr Chavan lashed at the Centre for limitless publicising of the COVID vaccination drive.
Commenting on the recent completion of 100 crore vaccinations, he taunted, “The Modi government was trying to gain publicity out of every aspect of the inoculation drive, right from its start.”
“The Centre should know that it's not a very big achievement on its part. Instead, it's the responsibility of the government to ensure that each and every citizen is vaccinated.”
He continued, “The Centre wrongly announced that 100 crore people have been vaccinated. In actuality, just 30 crore have received both the COVID shots while another 40 crore are partially-vaccinated yet.”
“In terms of global vaccination, our country stands at 144th place while China has fully-vaccinated 110 crore of its citizens,” he underscored.
He charged, “The central government started the vaccination programme after a huge delay whereas other countries in the world have already rolled out booster doses. The government should announce its policy whether it plans for a third dose or not.”
He sought an inquiry into the decision of involving private stakeholders in the vaccination drive.
Hitting out further at the Centre, he said, “India’s economy has totally collapsed while there is continuous hike in fuel prices. In the global hunger index of 116 countries, our country has slipped to 101 spot after Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.”
He averred, “The Modi government was anti-farmer as it is belligerent towards those protesting the new agri laws since the past one year. So far, 600 farmers have died in anti-farm bills protest.”
“The government has decided to import 12 lakh soyabean but slashed the import tax from 20 per cent to 16,” he mentioned.
Referring to the recent action taken by the central agencies in the state, Mr Chavan alleged, “The Centre is ploying to defame political leaders by unleashing the investigation agencies on them.”
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