NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a swipe at the central government, saying the number of ministers has increased but not the COVID vaccines.
He also shared a chart of the average vaccinations per day, which are falling short of the target to vaccinate all adults by December 2021.
"The number of ministers has increased, not of vaccines," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag "WhereAreVaccines" His comments came after 43 ministers were inducted into the Modi government, taking the total number of ministers to 77.
The chart shared by Gandhi was on India's vaccination equation that aims to stop the third wave of COVID-19.
The chart stated that the target is to vaccinate 60 per cent of the population with both doses by December 2021 and the required vaccination rate per day is 8.8 million.
However, it pointed out that the actual vaccinations in the last seven days were at an average of 3.4 million per day, leaving a shortfall of 5.4 million per day.
It also highlighted that the actual vaccination on Saturday (July 10) was 3.7 million, leaving a shortfall of 5.1 million for the day.
The Congress leader also highlighted Mahatma Gandhi's use of oxygen as a metaphor and attacked the government using the hashtag "dissent".
He shared a report that stated why Mahatma Gandhi used oxygen as a metaphor during the freedom struggle and how it has resonance for India today.
The report quoted Mahatma Gandhi as saying that freedom of opinion and freedom of association are "the two lungs that are absolutely necessary for a man to breathe the oxygen of liberty".
The Congress has been raising the issue of shortage of vaccines in the country and has urged the central government to speed up inoculations, saying it is the only way to stop the third wave of COVID-19.
The BJP had hit back at the opposition party by targeting the performance of Congress-ruled states and also accused it of encouraging vaccine hesitancy.