Kamal Nath's 'Indian Covid' jibe insulted nation; Why is Sonia Gandhi silent? asks Union minister Javadekar

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and senior BJP leader, Prakash Javadekar on Saturday slammed Congress and its acting president Sonia Gandhi for indulging in "politics of negativity" against the country.

He questioned the silence of Gandhi over her party's senior leader Kamal Nath for calling the new Covid-19 variant as 'Indian Corona' and asked why she did not condemn the remarks by the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister.

"Congress leader Kamal Nath has named Corona as Indian Corona. A few people were calling a particular variant as the Indian variant. He went a step ahead and called it Indian Corona.

He further said that the identity of India is - Mera Bharat COVID (My India COVID). His statement is doing the rounds and he has not disowned it till now," the Union Minister stated.

"His statement calling India's identity as Mera Bharat COVID is an insult of the country. This is an insult of India," he added.

Javadekar also accused Congress of tarnishing the image of India and weakening the country's battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

"Congress is trying to weaken the battle against COVID-19. They are not performing the role of a responsible Opposition. Sonia Ji should tell why is Congress indulging in politics of negativity and why has she not condemned it till now?" asked Javadekar.

The Union Minister also clarified that there are many Congress leaders who are giving statements calling the B.1.617 variant as Indian variant despite the fact that World Health Organisation (WHO) has clarified that no variant is named after any country.

Referring to Sonia Gandhi's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Minister assured the opposition that the Indian government is active and treating black fungus while ensuring sufficient vaccines to states.

He further slammed Congress for creating doubts about vaccines against COVID 19. "When COVID vaccines were invented they cast aspersions and called it BJP vaccine. Covaxin has turned out to be most efficacious," he added.

Javadekar took on Congress for finding a new way to spread misinformation against Covaxin, a vaccine that is made in India with regard to its acceptance by foreign countries.

"Now they have started rumor-mongering about travel ban vis a vis Covaxin. They said many countries may not consider those who have got Covaxin. As far as my information goes, this process is still on. But WHO hasn't taken any decision like this," Javadekar added.

(ANI)