NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi come out with concrete solutions to control the COVID-19 pandemic and revive the economy, instead of giving "plain speeches".
After the prime minister's televised address this evening, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala claimed that the Modi government has "failed" on both the fronts and India has become the "Corona capital" of the world with the "highest" number of daily cases and deaths.
"It is easy to give sermons. The country does not need plain speeches but concrete solutions," he said in a tweet, quoting a phrase from saint Tulsidas.
With the onset of festival season, Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday made an impassioned appeal to people to follow COVID-19 guidelines, saying this is not the time to be careless as the virus is still around and even a little negligence can dampen the festive spirit.
Surjewala and Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, in a joint statement, said, "The prime minister must answer for the failure of the leadership."
"Kindly tell the country on how to control the volatile situation of the pandemic. How will he revive the falling economy? Does he have a solution or will he blame it on God," the two leaders asked in their statement.
"While the battle against Corona is on, the leader has turned invisible and is only seen giving sermons on TV," they said The Congress leader recalled how the prime minister said on March 24 that the battle of Mahabharat continued for 18 days and they will win the battle against coronavirus in 21 days.
"But, even after 210 days, the battle against coronavirus is on and people are dying. Instead of coming out with a solution, Modi ji is still giving plain speeches on television," they said.
"India has become the corona capital of the world. As on October 19, India tops in the daily rise in cases of COVID-19 when, as per official data, the country reported 55,722 cases of the virus," Surjewala said.
In his seventh televised address to the nation following the COVID-19 outbreak, Modi on Tuesday cited examples of the US and several European countries to note that the coronavirus cases there have seen a sudden and worrisome rise after witnessing a fall, as he cautioned citizens against any laxity until an effective cure is found.
He said pictures and videos have of late emerged showing that many people have either stopped following precautions like wearing masks or have become negligent.
"This is absolutely not right. Those who have become negligent and are moving around without masks are putting themselves and their families, including children and elderly, at risk," he said.