On Coronavirus, Sharad Pawar’s Swipe At “Building A Temple”

Mumbai:

Veteran opposition chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday urged central and state governments to “pay more attention” to coronavirus and the economic system hit by the lockdown. For Maharashtra too, these are the priorities, he stated, although “some people might think that corona will go away after a temple is built”.  

Though the 79-year-old didn’t go into specifics, the timing of his phrases carried a touch.

On Saturday, the Ram Mandir Trust — arrange on the instructions of the Supreme Court to facilitate the development of a Ram temple at Ayodhya — met to set a date for the start of the development. The tentative date for the groundbreaking ceremony might be both on August three or 5 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to attend.

PM Modi had introduced the formation of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust on February 5 however the plans for temple constructing have been delayed by the outbreak of coronavirus.

“We always think about what should be prioritized. As of now, our priority is to help those infected with coronavirus recover. Some people think that coronavirus will go away after temple is constructed. That’s why they would have organised the programme. I am only getting to know about this from you people,” Mr Pawar stated.

“For us, fighting coronavirus is very important. Because of the virus, lockdown had to be enforced. We are concerned about the economic crisis, the impact it has had on small businesses. That’s why I request the state government and the Centre to pay special attention to it… There should be discussion in Delhi on how to help people to come out of the economic crisis,” he added.

The opposition, particularly the Congress — a ruling ally of Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra – has repeatedly accused the Centre of not doing sufficient to assist the nation deal with the outbreak and ruing the economic system to floor through the lockdown.

PM Modi has been ridiculed for his initiative of lighting lamps and clanging utensils — which have been meant as tribute to corona warriors — within the early days of lockdown.