'Sab yaad rakha jaega': Rahul’s fresh jibe at Centre over oxygen shortage death

Written by Sharangee Dutta | Edited by Avik Roy, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Jul 22, 2021 08:34 PM IST

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the Centre's claim of zero death reported due to lack of oxygen is a "severe lack of sensitivity and truth."

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at the Centre on Thursday over its statement on “zero death reported” due to oxygen shortage by sharing a 44-second video on his Twitter profile with a one-liner caption that reads “Sab yaad rakha jaega” (Everything will be remembered).

Several opposition leaders, including Delhi deputy chief minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia, have criticised the Centre's claim of no death reported due to oxygen shortage during second wave of Covid-19.

The curated video, which opens with the message “the truth about oxygen shortage”, shows several images and news articles from the time of the second wave of Covid-19, and the related deaths reported across states and Union territories (UTs) owing to lack of oxygen.

Rahul’s latest remark follows the one he made on Tuesday soon after Union minister of state for health and family welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, in response to Congress MP KC Venugopal’s question, told the Rajya Sabha that no deaths “due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by the states/UTs.”

“It wasn’t just the lack of oxygen but also a severe lack of sensitivity and truth. It was then, still is today,” Rahul wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Several opposition leaders apart from Rahul, including Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, Delhi deputy chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain, and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, criticised the Centre over its claim on oxygen shortage.

However, many states have backed the claim as well, citing that no Covid-19 patients died in their states due to lack of oxygen.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra had on Wednesday said that it is the responsibility of the states and UTs to report on fatalities owing to oxygen shortage and that such data wasn’t shared with the Centre. “If the Opposition says the Centre has not put the correct data, then they should ask their own state governments what has gone wrong,” he added.

Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu are among opposition-led states that have also denied any fatality among coronavirus patients due to oxygen shortage.