The Congress alleged the government as Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya asking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to either follow the Covid-19 guidelines during his Bharat Jodo Yatra or suspend it in national interest.
The Health minister wrote a letter to Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot. The letter reads, “Please ensure that in the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajastan, all Covid-19 guidelines are strictly followed, masks and sanitisers are used, and only those vaccinated against Covid-19 participate. People must isolate themselves before and after they join the yatra. If it is not possible to follow these Covid-19 protocols, then keeping the public health situation in mind, please suspend the Bharat Jodo Yatra in the national interest.”
The minister said he wrote the letter after three MPs from Rajasthan wrote to him saying many people who had taken part in the yatra had contracted the infection. He also said that the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has also affected with Covid-19 after participating in Bharat Jodo Yatra.
In a series of tweets, Gehlot accused the BJP of attempting to suppress the groundswell of support for the Congress that the yatra had generated. This proves that BJP’s aim is to cause interruptions for Bharat Jodo Yatra, fearing the increasing public support.