Pralhad Joshi slams Siddaramaiah for criticising India's 100 cr COVID vaccine milestone

Slamming Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah, Union Minister for Coals and Mines, Pralhad Joshi, remarked that the Congress is not proud of India and has stooped to a very low level. His remarks came after Siddaramaiah criticised political leaders for celebrating India's COVID-19 vaccination success after the country completed administering 100 crore coronavirus vaccines.  

Speaking on the same, Union Minister Joshi, on Saturday, stated that the Congress does not want to acknowledge the achievement of India.

"Are you proud of India or not? I am asking Siddaramaiah." Joshi said.

Further lauding India's vaccine coverage, Joshi said that India has provided a total of 100 crore vaccines worldwide and 31% of people in India have already received their second COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi, who was attending an event in Hubballi, said that the achievement of 100 crore vaccine doses is the achievement of the country and its people. India has been able to provide 100 crore doses in less than 10 months and no other country has achieved such numbers, he added.

Further, taking a jibe at former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the Union Minister said that the other Congress leaders should not believe Rahul Gandhi who is unable to understand data and information. 

Siddaramaiah criticises Centre for celebrating 100 crore vaccination milestone

In a series of tweets, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah questioned the BJP-led Central government for celebrating 100 crore vaccine doses while only 21% of the population are fully vaccinated. Calling it a "fancy number", Siddaramaiah remarked that the "devil is in the details."

In further tweets, the Karnataka Congress leader said that around 29 crore people are fully vaccinated and about 42 crore people have received the first doses. With that, 62 crore people are still without any doses of the vaccine, Siddaramaiah said. 

Questioning the Centre's preparation for vaccinating the people by the year-end, he said that India still needs 106 crore vaccine doses for vaccinating the entire population by 31 December. 

Further providing numbers of other countries, Siddaramaiah said that 71% of people in Canada are fully vaccinated followed by China with 70% and the USA with 56%. 

Earlier on October 21, India achieved the historic milestone by administering 100 crore vaccine doses as a part of its nationwide vaccination drive launched in January 2021. 

(Image: PTI)