BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for enforcing a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19, while hitting out at his former party, the Congress, for imposing Emergency in 1975.
The former Union Minister claimed that even when he was in the Congress he took a stand against the Emergency.
By announcing lockdown to contain coronavirus in time, PM Modi saved lakhs of lives, said Mr Scindia, whose supporters got the most of the cabinet expansion of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the courage to take the right decision with far-sightedness and resolve. When the world trembled during the (coronavirus) outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address requested for a lockdown from March 25 and crores of countrymen followed it,” he said.
Mr Scindia, who along with his supporters quit the Congress and joined the BJP in March this year, was speaking at a virtual rally to mark the completion of 100 days of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
“Some people are asking what good has the lockdown done. Had our Prime Minister not announced the lockdown, the country would have witnessed a heavy load of body bags like other countries. By imposing lockdown, he has saved lakhs of lives,” Mr. Scindia said.
The Congress in 1975 imposed Emergency to cling to power, while PM Modi appealed for a Lockdown to save lives and people obeyed the “pradhan Sevak’s” appeal wholeheartedly, he said.
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“While in the Congress, I always sided with the truth and always opposed Emergency because what is wrong is wrong and what is right is right,” he said.
On the India-China standoff in Ladakh, Mr. Scindia said it was due to the sensitivity and courage of Modi that Indian soldiers made Chinese Troops bite the dust.
“Today our Prime Minister is not sitting in the office but is in Leh, boosting the morale of our troops,” he said.
There should be no politics over the Coronavirus outbreak or the standoff with China, the former Union Minister said.
Praising the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Scindia said, “Chouhan has worked for 20 hours a day to contain the virus outbreak.”
Madhya Pradesh can now conduct 60,000 coronavirus tests a day and 70 lakh masks have been distributed free, he said.
The previous Congress regime in Madhya Pradesh and its leader (Kamal Nath) were only looking to cling on to power, Mr. Scindia alleged.