After slamming BJP in Bihar, Congress Govt in Puducherry announces free Covid vaccine

On Friday, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy announced that his government would offer free COVID-19 vaccine for all State citizens. While addressing media in Karaikal after inaugurating cyclone shelters in coastal villages, he said, “Vaccines were given free to people for smallpox and polio. It is our stand that vaccines should be given to everyone. We will vaccinate everyone in Puducherry whether the Centre provides us with funds or not.” 

This comes even as the Congress and its allies, as well as former chief of the party Rahul Gandhi, has slammed the BJP for mentioning the free vaccine in their Bihar poll manifesto. 

READ | Shivraj Singh Chouhan Declares 'free COVID Vaccine For All In MP'; Tweaks Promise Later

Rahul Gandhi slams BJP 

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at the promise of providing free COVID vaccine to the people of Bihar and tweeted that the government had just announced 'India's strategy' for access to COVID vaccine. He added that the assembly election schedule will decide who will get the vaccine when.

READ | Bihar elections: Rahul Gandhi takes a dig at BJP's 'free COVID vaccine' promise

Other free vaccine promises 

Following his party's declaration in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan also announced a free vaccine for all, only to tweak it later. The Madhya Pradesh CM had tweeted that his government has taken a lot of steps to defeat COVID and protect the citizens. "India is working fast to prepare a vaccine. As soon as the vaccine is ready, every person of Madhya Pradesh will get it for free." However, Chouhan later deleted his tweet and rephrased his promise stating that 'free vaccine is for poor'.

The BJP in its Bihar poll manifesto titled as '5 Sutra, 1 Lakshaya, 11 Sankalp' promised free COVID-19 vaccine to all state subjects. While unveiling the manifesto, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "As soon as COVID-19 vaccine will be available for production at a mass scale, every person in Bihar will get free vaccination. This is the first promise mentioned in our poll manifesto."

Similarly, Tami Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Thursday announced that once the coronavirus vaccine is ready, it will be provided to all people of the state free of cost. The Tami Nadu government's decision came ahead of next year’s Assembly elections. Recently the two warring factions in AIADMK - of Deputy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) and CM E Palaniswami (EPS), reconciled after the party named incumbent E Palaniswamy as its CM candidate and O Panneerselvam as the chief of the 11-member steering committee.

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