NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded free COVID-19 vaccination for all Indians on Thursday and put out a tweet with the dictionary meaning and usage of the word "free" to stress his point.
Gandhi and his party have been demanding free COVID-19 vaccination for all citizens.
They have also termed the Centre's new vaccination policy discriminatory.
In a tweet on Thursday, Gandhi further stressed his demand.
"free /fri?/ adjective, adverb -- costing nothing, or not needing to be paid for," he wrote and then went on to illustrate the usage of the word "free" through two examples relevant to his demands, "India must get free COVID vaccine.
All citizens must receive the inoculation free of charge.
"Let's hope they get it this time," he wrote on Twitter with the hashtag #vaccine.
In another tweet in Hindi, the former Congress chief hit out at the government, saying the one who does not listen to people's pain and emotions does not have a heart but a stone.
"One who is not filled with emotions, who is not willing to listen to people's pain, he has a stone and not a heart, the 'system' that the public does not love," he said.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh demanded the option of on-the-spot registration for all adults at the inoculation centres, saying the online process may end up excluding many.
"I fail to understand why BOTH options of online pre-registration and on-the-spot registration for walk-ins should not be allowed for vaccination. Online registration should help not hamper. In India's case, mandatory online registration may end up excluding many," the former Union minister wrote on Twitter.