Rahul targets Modi citing WHO report on India’s Covid death; BJP fumes

New Delhi, May 6: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of lying the nation citing the World Health Organization's (WHO) report that claimed 47 lakh Indians died due to the coronavirus pandemic till December 2021 when the Central government report claimed death of 4.8 lakh persons due to the pandemic. "47 lakh Indians died due to the Covid pandemic. NOT 4.8 lakh as claimed by the Govt. Science doesn't LIE. Modi does. Respect families who've lost loved ones. Support them with the mandated Rs 4 lakh compensation," Gandhi tweeted on Friday. wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/RahulGandhi/status/1522423132094558208","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} https://twitter.com/RahulGandhi/status/1522423132094558208 /wp:embed The WHO's estimate makes India the worst-affected country in the world. However, it did not go well with the BJP leaders. “The whole world believes that the way India fought against Corona under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was an example for the whole world,” BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra tweeted in Hindi. wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/sambitswaraj/status/1522483820645076992","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} https://twitter.com/sambitswaraj/status/1522483820645076992 /wp:embed But in such a situation, it is very sad to do politics on the death figures. Whereas India has fought this war in a better way than the developed countries, he added.  He also claimed the WHO data is wrong citing four important reasons. There are 4 important steps on the basis of which we believe the WHO data is wrong, he said. 1- The type of methods adopted by WHO in the whole process is wrong. 2- The source of the data should have accuracy, while WHO has recognized that the sources are not verified. 3- On the basis of which criteria India has been placed in Tier-2 country, it is also not known accurately. 4- Brainstorming data in an imaginary way, keeping India in Tier-2 countries, India has discussed with WHO from time to time on all these topics.