Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday alleged that the Congress leaders are trying to politicise the coronavirus pandemic when they should rather "try to rebuild confidence among people".
He said this in response to Sonia Gandhi's call to the leaders of the opposition parties for a meeting on May 22 to discuss the plight of migrant labourers and the COVID-19 crisis. BSP, SP, and AAP are likely to give it a miss.
"We were hoping to get a bill from Priyanka Gandhi for the pictures they clicked of the buses sent to Uttar Pradesh. If you have done some good for the people, don't quantify it in terms of money. We are waiting for the day when they [Congress] would send a bill to Yogiji for those pictures," Naqvi told .
When asked about Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad's recent letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray urging to push the redevelopment in Dharavi which has reported a large number of COVID-19 cases, and the over 25,000 cases in Mumbai alone, Naqvi said one should try to understand ground realities rather than pc about the rising numbers.
"We should try to understand the ground reality, and not pc. Be it Maharashtra or any other state, we should exercise caution. There have been guidelines set out by MHA and the state government. This is not the time to pinpoint," said the minister.
Although he admitted that all guidelines are not being followed in many states.
"Some have taken a casual approach. The ones who followed the instructions by the government are doing better. The places where the situation went out of control, there were prime reasons for that. For instance, the Markaz issue in Delhi. We may not have needed the fourth lockdown if not for such criminal negligence," he added.
When asked about the flights being back in service from Monday, he said, "We need to follow the motto of 'Jaan hai toh jahan hai'. Coronavirus is a disease, and we will have to live with it as we do with other diseases."
( With inputs from ANI )