New Delhi:

Hours after Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh suggested that sudden action regarding a Covid surge in the country is a ploy to disrupt the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the pan-India foot march, directly said the Health Minister’s recent letter to him to halt the march if Covid protocols are not being followed is an excuse.

“This yatra will travel till Kashmir. Now they (the BJP) have come up with a new idea. They wrote a letter to me saying Covid is coming, so stop the yatra. Look, now excuses are being made to stop the yatra. Wear masks, stop the yatra…these are all excuse. They are scared of the strength and the truth of this country,” he said while addressing the media in Haryana’s Nuh.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had earlier written to Rahul Gandhi to ensure Covid “protocol” is followed in his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. Citing concerns after a spike in China, Mr Mandaviya, in his letter on Tuesday, had “requested” Rahul Gandhi to suspend his yatra “in the national interest” if “protocol” could not be followed.

The Health Minister doubled down yesterday, after Congress workers and leaders accused him of trying to stop the food march. “I cannot neglect my duty of stopping potential Covid spread just because one family perhaps believes it’s above the rules… No one is entitled to special treatment,” he said.

“Several people” have caught the virus after participating in the yatra, he said, citing Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu as an example.