PM should have consulted states before imposing lockdown: Bhupesh Baghel

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday said that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had consulted with states before imposing the lockdown, then it would have been in the national interest.

"Congress has raised issues of national interest only, @AmitShah Ji. If the Prime Minister had consulted with the states before imposing the lockdown, then it would have been in the national interest. In the federal structure, suggestions and questions both are important," Baghel tweeted.

"Whatever BJP says and does is in the national interest and whatever Congress says, that is politics? Whatever Congress President Sonia Gandhi Ji has said, has been said after consultations with party leaders and chief ministers. Whatever is in the interest of the nation, will be stated," he added.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi had in her address to the Congress Working Committee on Thursday termed the 21-day nationwide lockdown "unplanned" and said it has caused chaos and panic in the lives of migrant workers.

Earlier on Thursday, BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of playing petty politics over the way in which the government is handling the coronavirus crisis and said it is "high time they think of national interest and stop misleading people".

Shah said in a press release that the combined efforts in the country in the fight against coronavirus under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was appreciated not only in the country but also globally.