Since 2014 or maybe even before that, the Congress campaign has always been centred around smearing PM Modi- the top Congress leadership calls him names, with the first lady of the grand old party labelling him “Maut ka saudagar (Merchant of death)”, her son accusing him of khoon ki dalali and one of her minions calling him chaiwala, kaatil (murderer) and what not.
Not once has this scam-tainted party tried to show its positive side and now it has carried on with the same professional pessimism during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Ever since the Pandemic broke out, the entire Congress leadership tried to dig up devious methods to crucify Prime Minister Modi- outrageous ideas, for instance, overrated brown Englishmen like Shashi Tharoor’s claim that there would be a power grade failure if the entire nation turned off lights on Prime Minister Modi’s call to the nation have once again made the Congress a source of derision.
While such outrageous ideas are being peddled, what the Congress leadership has missed is the studies around the world about how India’s BCG vaccination programme seems to have played a role in undermining the spread of Coronavirus in India.
Countries like the United States, Italy, Spain are the hardest hit because there was no universal BCG campaign in these countries on account of very few TB cases, whereas in India, there is a high incidence of TB given that it is situated in South Asia which accounts for as many as 40 per cent of the total TB cases around the world. Therefore, India has been vaccinating aggressively against TB as a part of its commitment to completely eradicate the disease by 2025.
A study co-authored by Indian American Dr. Ashish Kamat, professor of Urologic Oncology (Surgery) and Cancer Research at MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas, has observed, “Incidence of Covid-19 was 38.4 per million in countries with BCG vaccination compared to 358.4 per million in the absence of such a program. The death rate was 4.28/million in countries with BCG programs compared to 40/million in countries without such a program.”
Clearly, India’s BCG vaccination campaign and fight against Tuberculosis seems to have incidentally helped the country in fighting against the COVID-19 outbreak as well. The vaccination programme itself is decades old and the Congress leaders of the past also have had a role to play. Congress could have tried taking credit for it and earned some brownie points.
But the unimaginative bunch of losers that this 124-year old party has reduced itself into cannot think above the Gandhi scion, and therefore doesn’t bat an eye about how aggressive BCG vaccination could have played a role in preventing India from becoming a COVID-19 hotspot.
India was one of the first countries outside Europe to start the BCG vaccination programme way back in the year 1948, then the National Tuberculosis Control Project (NTCP) was launched in the year 1962 and finally the 1985 Universal Immunisation Programme offered extensive BCG coverage in India which now seems to have bolstered the fight against Coronavirus.
Usually, the Congress is eager to credit India’s first Prime Minister Nehru for everything under the sun, from better foreign relations to every single infrastructure project that has kicked off under Prime Minister Modi’s tenure, but when the real chance came the party simply squandered it.
Why? Because it wanted to project Rahul Gandhi as the ultimate leader who rescued Bhilwara from slipping into Stage-III Community transmission. It is bizarre that for years the party tried to project one of the worst-performing Prime Ministers in India’s history, Rajiv Gandhi as a visionary and failed at it.
As a matter of chance, it found something to boast about in the 1985 Universal Immunisation Programme but the Congress has let it go. And what for? So that Sonia Gandhi could eulogise her son about doing a favour to the people of Bhilwara?
The Congress only embarrassed itself further when Kismat Gurjar, a Bhilwara Sarpanch, took to Twitter on Saturday and said that the people of the district and not Rahul or the state government should get the credit for the success of Bhilwara model.
She said, “I was disappointed. The Bhilwara model was made possible by the hard work of farmers, women, villagers of Bhilwara. In their fight against corona, the locals diligently followed minute instructions, thereby setting an example of self-discipline.”
She also said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal has immensely influenced the people here. The local people have not only followed the lockdown guidelines but also adhered to social distancing and kept their surroundings hygienic.”
भीलवाड़ा वासियों की मेहनत का श्रेय सोनिया गांधी जी द्वारा राहुल गांधी जी को दिया जाना दुःखद हैं। pic.twitter.com/B9tSu52h2e
— Sarpanch Kismat Gurjar (मोदी का परिवार) (@SarpanchOnline) April 11, 2020
The Congress party had a chance to revitalise itself and claim credit for the BCG vaccination programme, but when you have a leader like Rahul Gandhi all that you end up doing is fear-mongering. All you want to do is spread negativity and lies– lies like dearth of N95 masks and PPE, even if it means bringing up ‘imposters’ to prove your pathetic lies.
Congress cannot revitalise because it has been reduced to professional pessimism and detraction, rather than becoming a constructive and forward-looking political outfit. The party cannot think above petty lies and outrageously unpopular ideas- it is this lack of imaginativeness and outright intellectual bankruptcy that has landed the party to the rock bottom of Indian politics.
