Congress Parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi slammed India’s Prime Minister Modi on Thursday, claiming that "science does not lie, Prime Minister Narendra Modi does".
His comments come in relation to the recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on COVID deaths in India during 2020 and 2021, which indicated figures were far higher than officials stated at the time.
Rahul Gandhi Tweet
© Photo : Deexa Khanduri
Criticising Modi on Twitter, Gandhi also demanded that families who lost their loved ones during the pandemic be granted compensation of INR 400,000 ($5,210).
India’s Health Ministry, meanwhile, has hit back at the attacks, calling the WHO's data collection method "statistically unsound and scientifically questionable".
For his part, Sambit Patra, from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said the WHO methodology to calculate estimated virus deaths in India was “flawed” and the Indian government had conveyed its objections to the organisation.
Patra also said that Gandhi has repeatedly tried to damage Modi’s – and as such India’s - image since 2014.
Furthermore, he added that the country has a robust mechanism for birth and death registration.
To date, India has reported 523,975 COVID-19 deaths – the highest figures after the United States and Brazil – and more than 43 million cases.
According to local media reports, India's Health and Family Welfare Ministry said it would continue to work with the WHO.