'Busy with peacocks', says Rahul in dig at PM over rise in Covid-19 cases

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the rise in COVID-19 cases, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the government had asked people to become aatmanirbhar which means they should save their lives themselves as the prime minister was busy with peacocks.

Gandhi has been critical of the government over the handling of the COVID crisis and accused it of failing to tackle the situation. The government has dismissed all such claims in the past.

In a tweet, Gandhi said coronavirus infections will cross 50 lakh this week and active cases will surpass 10 lakh.

"Unplanned lockdown is the product of one person's ego and because of it coronavirus has spread throughout the country," he said in the tweet in Hindi.

"Modi government said become 'Aatmanirbhar' (self-sufficient) which means save your life yourself because the PM is busy with peacocks," the former Congress chief added in a clear reference to a recent video showing the prime minister feeding peacocks.

India's COVID-19 case tally crossed 48 lakh on Monday with 92,071 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 79,722 with 1,136 people succumbing to the infection in a span of 24 hours.