TMC sniffs 'Hindutva agenda' in PM's coronavirus address

The Trinamool Congress on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on combating coronavirus had a "hidden Hindutva agenda" and claimed that he failed to give any direction on how to tackle the pandemic.

The remark was made by Mamata Banerjee's cabinet minister Subrata Mukherjee minutes after the PM's address in which he urged all Indians to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid getting infected by coronavirus, saying the world has never seen a danger as grave as this.

Modi also called for the "janata curfew" on March 22 from 7 am to 9 pm, saying no citizen, barring those in essential services, should get out of house.

"He has failed to provide a direction to the nation in combating the pandemic. There is no proper proposals to tackle it. Rather, he was speaking of ringing bells, this is absurd. How will you combat coronavirus by ringing bells," Mukherjee said.

"There is a Hidden agenda of Hindutva and the RSS in his speech. We condemn such an approach during this national crisis," Mukherjee, a senior TMC leader and minister said.

The TMC leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O' Brien, wondred whether the PM's speech was high on gimmicks and low on solutions.

"#Parliament in session. Isnt this temple of democracy hallowed enough to address the nation from? Or a pre-recorded video message? CMs were watching on TV. Chronology? Announce today. Talk to CMs tomo. Cooperative federalism? High on gimmicks ? Low on solutions #COVID2019," Brien said in a tweet.

The country was looking forward to short and medium-term solutions, preventive measures, funds for fighting, support for states and centre-states cohesive action plan, the TMC leader said.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh was quick to hit back at the TMC.

"When cyclones hit Bengal last year, the state government failed to provide relief. Whatever the PM said is absolutely correct. The TMC should stop politicising everything," Ghosh said.