Rahul Gandhi mocks Modi government for 'fighting for blue ticks' instead of vaccines

New Delhi: As the controversy around the removed and then restored “verified blue ticks” on Twitter continued to rage, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the BJP government for allegedly "fighting for blue ticks" while the country faces a shortage of Covid-19 vaccines. "Modi government is fighting for blue ticks. If you want a Covid-19 vaccine, then be self-reliant! #Priorities," he tweeted.

His dig came a day after Twitter removed ''blue ticks'', that indicate a verified account, from the Twitter handles of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat and other leaders. Soon after, the government sent a final communication to Twitter asking them to comply immediately with the new guidelines failing which legal consequences will follow.

In the last few weeks several Congress leaders have attacked the Central government over “mismanagement” of Covid vaccines. Vaccination for the 18-44 year old age group has been lagging behind in several states because of vaccine shortage.  

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi highlighted the flaws in vaccine distribution. She said, “We are one of the biggest vaccine manufacturers in the world. Yet only 3.4 percent of our population is fully vaccinated. Who is responsible for India’s confused and dithering vaccination program?” She further added that the citizens are asking why the situation has come to a point where state governments have to opt for global tenders and compete for different rates for the same vaccine. The Central government has claimed that all Indians will be vaccinated by the end of 2021.