NEW DELHI/PATNA: In what was read as the politics of vaccine, the BJP’s manifesto in Bihar promised to provide free Covid-19 shots to all people in the state if it retains power in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
The party perhaps saw as it as a trump card, as the universal free vaccine in the state was the first promise on its poll manifesto released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
“As soon as the vaccine is available for production at a mass scale, every person in Bihar will get free vaccination. This is the first promise mentioned in our poll manifesto,” she emphasised, adding: “Bihar is a politically sensitive state. Here people cannot be fobbed off with empty promises.”
Amid a barrage of criticism, the BJP sought to justify the announcement saying, the vaccine would be made available at a nominal cost and it’s up to the state governments to decide on providing it to the people free of cost, since health is a state subject.
In a tweet dripping with sarcasm, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: “Government just announced India’s Covid access strategy. Kindly refer to the state-wise election schedule to know when you will get it, along with a hoard of false promises.”
RJD’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav hit out at the BJP for playing politics in the time of pandemic by asking the people to vote for the vaccine.
Access to a vaccine is the fundamental right of every citizen of India and making it a vote issue is electoral blackmail, he said.
Leaders from other non-NDA parties also lashed out at the “blatant populism” and accused the BJP of exploiting Covid-19 fears for electoral mileage.
The BJP defended its announcement with party general secretary Bhupender Yadav saying the promise has been made as part of its public policy.
The BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya said the Centre would provide the vaccine to all states at a nominal cost.
“It will be up to the state governments to decide the distribution of the vaccines.”
Meanwhile, activist Saket Gokhale filed a complaint with the Election Commission, saying the announcement violated the model code of conduct.
$7 billion set aside for India’s vaccination
A Bloomberg report quoting unnamed sources said the Centre has already set aside about $7 billion for Covid vaccination across the country.
Each person needs two injections, with each shot costing $2. The estimated cost per person, including infrastructure and storage, is $6-7, the report said