Did PM Modi Misrepresent Facts In His Address To The Nation?
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2021-06-08 11:21:15
About the Author
Did Prime Minister Modi misrepresent facts in his address to the nation on Tuesday when he said that the government changed the centralized vaccine policy on the demand of many states who wanted a larger say? Going by the charge made by opposition leaders, P Chidambaram in particular, Modi lied. Chidambaram went as far as to demand proof from the government about which chief minister had demanded independent charge of vaccination.
"The underlying message was that the central government learned from its mistakes. They made two cardinal mistakes and made effort to correct those mistakes, but as usual bluff and bluster, the Prime Minister blames the Opposition for the mistakes he committed," Mr Chidambaram told news agency ANI. "Nobody, but nobody said that Centre shouldn't procure vaccines. He (PM) now blames state governments saying - they wanted to procure vaccines so we allowed them. Let us know which CM, which state government, on what date demanded that he should be allowed to procure vaccines," he asserted.
But Chidambaram did not reckon with the power of the social media. He was fact-checked in no time. Immediately after his criticism, the letter which West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Modi on February 24 this year went viral on social media. Chidambaram immediately issued an apology and said he stood corrected. In her letter, Banerjee had clearly said "we would request you to kindly take up the matter with appropriate authority so that State government is able to purchase the vaccines from designated point(s) on top priority basis because the West Bengal government wants to provide vaccination free of cost to all the people."
But while criticizing the Prime Minister for the delay in taking the decision on free jabs for all and alleging that it had cost lives, Banerjee conveniently chose to forget the letter which had forced the Centre into taking the disastrous step to decentralize the vaccination policy. At that time, many opposition leaders and a section of the media were also critical of the Centre for vesting all powers in its hands and not allowing the states to act independently. It was argued that the states were better placed to handle the situation as they were more aware of the ground situation. As the Prime Minister said in his address, it was said that "one size does not fit all" and the Centre must devolve power to the states.
The job of the opposition is to examine government policy with a microscope and inform the people of mistakes. But they cannot have their cake and eat it too. They cannot demand more powers and then when they find themselves all at sea (as they were when trying to procure vaccines directly from manufacturers), start criticizing the Centre for abdicating its duty towards the people.
