Congress on Sunday accused Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar of distorting facts and engaging in “false propaganda” alleging that opposition leaders were pushing the foreign vaccine factor after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and demanded his apology.
Congress also wrote on Twitter against Chandrasekhar’s “false propaganda” and for his tweet blaming the leaders to be deleted, while calling for action against the minister.
The communications secretary-general of the All India Congress Committee (ICCA), Jairam Ramesh, wrote to Chandrasekhar and said his advice that opposition leaders sought to “intimidate” the government into approving some foreign vaccines was “a complete lie. “
“We can perceive that for a regime built and supported through propaganda, why did it feel compelled to make such a distorted and malicious statement. So, on the substance of his claim, there is a lot to be said other than that it is a complete lie. At no time did any of the senior officials you appointed comment or comment on the indemnity clause,” the congressional leader wrote to the minister.
“We ask you to apologize, explain and delete the tweet immediately, otherwise we will be forced to take legal action. His movements are unacceptable and he will have to take responsibility for spreading false and misleading information,” he said.
The Union’s Minister of State for Information Technology had said, in a Jan. 20 tweet: “Just to remind all Indians that Pfizer tried to bully the Indian government into accepting the payment terms. “And the Cong trio of Rahul, Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh continued to push instances of foreign Covid vaccines,” he said.
Chandrasekhar also shared a video on Twitter of Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, to whom Davos asked critical questions about the company’s Covid vaccine.
Ramesh, who is chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, noted in his letter to the minister that on June 23, 2021, a committee assembly on the progression of a Covid vaccine and genetic sequencing of the coronavirus and its variants was held to discuss Indian progress in vaccine production, that they are documented facts, and said he investigates the matter before making “malicious and ill-informed statements. “
“During the momentary wave of the pandemic, when India was rocked by the crisis, when other people, adding their supporters, labeled their government officials and begged for their support, what did your government do?Families lost enjoyed them, hospitals were overwhelmed and the country was in chaos. His government’s handling of the crisis has a warning that has cost other Indians dearly.
“Also, at a time when your government was in panic mode, it was the Indian National Congress that stepped in and came forward to pay for the exercise tickets of migrant workers, who were stranded and in urgent need of help,” Ramesh said.
The former union minister added that in democracy, especially in times of crisis, the government will have to work with the opposition and not turn each and every one of the factors into a point of false propaganda or finger-pointing.
The opposition has the constitutional right to question administrative delays around the vaccination campaign, procurement, variety and distribution of vaccines, “that’s what is done in general terms and what we support,” he said.
“But to recommend that leaders have called for safeguards easements is all misrepresentation and misrepresentation of reality,” the congressional leader said.
“His message undermines the highest fundamental principles of democracy and equity. He seeks to absolve his government of any duty for its mismanagement of the Covid crisis and the consequent loss of life, to mention the economic devastation.
“We also find him deeply concerned that an Indian government minister will make such false and baseless accusations without any evidence. Such moves are expected of online trolls, not government ministers who are destined to be subjected to a popular behavior superior,” he added.
Congress social media leader Supriya Shrinate wrote on Twitter, claiming that Chandrasekhar was circulating “false and harmful propaganda. “
“The tweet in question is harmful because it seeks to provide a fabricated and distorted narrative of pandemic-era political opposition. This not only violates the rules of the Twitter community, but also false and blatant statements through an accurate report from the minister of the Union government. , reflect a culture of bullying to get a point of view, and are insensitive to the many families who have lost loved ones during the pandemic,” he said in his letter to the microblogging site.
Shrinate said that, as chair of the congressional social media department, it is her duty that no social media platform be used as a tool to enable such false and malicious reporting.
“The minister’s tweet not only tarnishes the reputation of our leaders, but also undermines the democratic process, where the opposition’s perspectives are misrepresented, with the planned aim of creating confusion, doubt and animosity among the general public, and then the lie is amplified on platforms like Twitter.
“We ask that you mark this content as misleading and false and take immediate action to remove it. We also ask you to take appropriate action against the user who posted the tweet, which obviously violates your own network’s guidelines,” the congressional leader wrote on Twitter.
“Hopefully, Twitter inspires the courage to take corrective action,” Ramesh wrote while sharing Shrinate’s letter.
Shrinate said that false and misleading can have serious consequences for the public and that Congress will seek more legal remedies in this regard.
“We hope that you will take appropriate measures in this regard and wait for your prompt response,” he added.
(This story was not edited by the Devdiscourse team and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed. )