‘First, send letter to PM….’: Rajasthan CM Gehlot retorts after Health Minister's letter

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on December 21 slammed the Central Government after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, in a letter, asked him and Rahul Gandhi to ensure proper COVID guidelines during the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra.

CM Gehlot said that the Central Government is upset and scared with the rising public support of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the letter is aimed to disturb the Congress-led yatra.

He also alleged that the Union Health Minister has not issued any letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he did a rally in Tripura two days back.

The Rajasthan Chief Minister slammed the Union Health Minister by saying that if he is really concerned over the COVID situation, and not aiming at the Congress-led yatra, he should first write to the Prime Minister and asked him to follow the COVID guidelines first during the rallies.

“The Prime Minister held a rally in Tripura two days ago where no Covid protocol was followed. In the second wave of Covid, the PM did big rallies in West Bengal. If the Union health minister's objective is not political and his concern is justified, then he should have written the first letter to the Prime Minister,” CM Gehlot tweeted in Hindi.

“The Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan was completed on the morning of 21st December, but the BJP and Modi Government are so scared of the huge crowd gathered here that the Union Health Minister wrote a letter to Mr. Rahul Gandhi on 20th December to follow the Covid protocol in Rajasthan,” he tweeted.

Earlier, Health Minister Mandaviya wrote a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Rahul Gandhi and asked them to follow the COVID protocol during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. He also cleared in the letter that if the COVID guidelines were not followed then it would lead to the cancellation of the Yatra.

In the letter, Mandaviya stressed the use of sanitisers and facemasks during the yatra. ‘Only vaccinated people should participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra,’ the letter said. 

Notably, the Health Minister sent the letter after three MPs from Rajasthan voiced their concerns about the ongoing rise in COVID cases in other countries, particularly the neighbouring country of China.

A sudden surge in COVID cases and deaths has been reported in Japan, USA, Korea, Brazil & China, due to which the Indian Health Ministry today held a review meeting.

Recently, the Central health authorities have also asked states and UTs to prepare for the genome sequencing of COVID samples to track new variants.