Lockdown Only A Pause Button: Rahul

The former Congress president cautions govt. on potential ‘social unrest’ over migrant workers’ issue

- Sandeep Phukan

Lockdown is only a “pause button” and not a solution to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, and the government should adopt aggressive and extensive testing to “defeat” the virus, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday.

In a virtual press conference, Mr. Gandhi said that though he had many disagreements with the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “today is not the time to fight with each other but to unite the country and take on the virus”.

To a query, if the nature and structure of democracy would change post-COVID-19, he said though there was a possibility right now, the priority was to fight the virus.

He cautioned the government on the migrant workers’ issue, saying it should act quickly or there would be “social unrest”.