The Centre cannot pass the buck to the States or blame the people. After the first wave we had the PM and BJP boasting about how India successfully handled Covid compared to the world. Vaccines were sent to various nations and praise came from the UNO and others. These are facts. The travails of the people have never come first. Right from the enormous sufferings due to demonetisation, declaring lockdown with 4 hours’ notice and the pathetic migrant exodus, etc, people were angry but the PM took no responsibility for the shock and awe governance which has numbed the people. Instead of learning lessons from the first wave, converting all the troll centres with centralised Covid war room and coordinating with the States at least when the second wave hit, the PM continued relishing many road shows along with his star campaigners at huge rallies where Covid norms were thrown to the winds. Religious festivals like the Kumbh Mela where thousands congregate were permitted. All hospitals are overfull, people with Covid waiting in ambulances and cars with patients begging for attendance, there is shortage of oxygen, ventilators, doctors and nurses, crematoriums are full and bodies being burnt in parking areas, etc. The household budgets are precarious, inflation and prices sky-rocketting, jobs being lost/ not available, the nation’s finances are in the red. Who is responsible for this state of affairs is obvious.
