Centre should issue mandatory COVID protocols, all must follow: AAP over 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'

He said the Centre should do so in order to avoid the situation that the country had witnessed, during the first and second wave of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021

The Centre should issue "mandatory" protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and everyone, be it a political party or someone taking out a march must follow them, the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national spokesperson Raghav Chadha said on Saturday in a veiled reference to the Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', led by Rahul Gandhi.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Chadha said the Centre should do so in order to avoid the situation that the country had witnessed, during the first and second wave of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

The country saw a major crisis during the last two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the Centre's failure in understanding the "seriousness" of the initial scientific indications about the spread of the virus, he charged.

When asked for his Party's stand on the row over Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya's "follow COVID-19 guidelines" letter to Mr. Gandhi, he told reporters that he knew that so far the Centre had not yet issued any mandatory protocol. He added that if such protocols were issues, everyone should respect and follow them, be it a political party or someone taking out a yatra.

The AAP's Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab suggested that the Central Government should monitor all the flights coming to India carrying passengers directly or indirectly from China, and if necessary, they could be banned to prevent the entry of the virus into the country.

"Prevention is better than cure," he added.

A war of words erupted between the Congress and the BJP after the Union Health Minister wrote to Mr. Gandhi earlier this week asking him to consider suspending his Party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', if adherence to the COVID protocols could not be followed.