Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging it of “spreading the virus of hatred and communal bias” at the time when the need is to unitedly fight the Coronavirus pandemic.

“When we should be tackling the Coronavirus unitedly, the BJP continues to spread the virus of communal prejudice and hatred. Grave damage is being done to our social harmony. Our party will have to work hard to repair the damage.” Sonia Gandhi said at the working committee meet in Delhi.

Sonia Gandhi’s allegation comes in the wake of Palghar incident where two sadhus were lynched by mob and the section of people which was painted as communal, the truth was contrary to the reality.

She said that the compassion, large-heartedness and alacrity that should be forthcoming from the Central Government is conspicuous by its absence and the focus must continue to be on successfully engaging with health, food security and livelihood issues.

Eleven crore people who are in need of subsidized food grains remain outside of the Public Distribution System and 10 kg of food grains, 1 kg of pulses and half a Kg of sugar to each person of the family every month must be given, in this hour of crisis. At least 12 crore jobs have been lost in the first phase of the lockdown, she said.

Unemployment is likely to increase further as economic activity remains at a standstill. It is imperative to provide at least Rs 7,500 to each family to tide over this crisis. Migrant labourers are still stranded, jobless and desperate to return home, Sonia Gandhi added.

“While the procurement policies and disrupted supply chains need to be fixed without any delay and facilities must be made available to the farmers for the next round of Kharif crops which will begin in the coming two months,” said Gandhi at the CWC meeting.

The MSME sector employs close to 11 crore people today, it is imperative that a special package be announced urgently for their survival, Sonia Gandhi demanded.

The Congress chief also, meanwhile, applauded the success story of fighting COVID-19 and the people leading the battle against the virus.

“There are a few success stories and we should applaud them. Most of all, we should salute every single Indian leading the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in spite of the absence of adequate personal protection equipment,” she said.

“The doctors, nurses, paramedics, health workers, sanitation workers and essential service providers, NGOs and the lakhs of citizens providing relief to the most needy all over India, their dedication and determination truly inspire us all,” the Congress leader added.

Sonia Gandhi further blamed the Government of only partially implementing the suggestions given by the Congress.

“I offered our constructive cooperation and suggestions, but unfortunately, the government has acted upon them only partially and in a miserly way. The compassion, large-heartedness and alacrity from the Central Government is conspicuous by its absence,” she said.

“12 crore jobs have been lost in the first phase of the lockdown. Unemployment is likely to increase further as economic activity remains at a standstill. It is imperative to provide at least Rs 7,500 to each family to tide over this crisis.”

Congress President Sonia Gandhi further stated that the Government should know there is no alternative to testing, tracing and quarantining COVID-19 patients but the testing is on slow pace.

“We have repeatedly urged the Prime Minister that there is no alternative to Testing, Trace and Quarantine. Unfortunately, testing still remains low and testing kits are still in short supply and of poor quality. PPE kits and their quality is poor,” she said.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi at the CWC meeting stressed that the issue of migrant labourers should be addressed on a “priority basis” and the “economic activity” should also start in green zones.

“Lockdown is a mere pause button. As a nation, we need to think of a transition from one lockdown to another only in disease hotspots and commencement of activities in green zones,” he said.

Congress General secretary Priyanka Gandhi also raised the issue of migrants. She said, “as times pass by, we need to permit migrant workers to return home after due testing and precautions.”

“Compassion is the key to fight COVID-19 and not hostility towards the victim of Corona,” she added.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in his address said that “success of lockdown is to be judged finally on our ability to tackle COVID-19.” He added that cooperation between the Centre and states is key to the success of India’s fight against Coronavirus.