The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at the Congress today over an alleged toolkit of the opposition party, saying it wants to tarnish the image of the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling the new strain of the coronavirus the "India strain" or the "Modi strain".
Citing the toolkit, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said according to the document, it is clear that the Congress extending help to the needy during the pandemic is "more of a public relations exercise with the help of friendly journalists and influencers than a soulful endeavour".
In accordance with the agenda of the toolkit, the Congress has instructed its social media volunteers to call the new mutant strain of COVID-19 the "Modi strain" or the "India strain", Mr Patra claimed in a tweet.
BJP president JP Nadda said dividing the society and "spewing venom against others. Congress is a master at this".
"India is seeing Congress' antics, while the nation is fighting COVID-19. I would urge Congress to go beyond 'Toolkit Models' and do something constructive," he said in a tweet.
Echoing similar sentiments, Union minister Smriti Irani said the country is at war with the coronavirus.
"I can understand the opposition would want to attack the government. But to singularly commercialise it as a political opportunity and deal in death; I never imagined Congress was capable of such a low," she wrote on Twitter.
Attacking Rahul Gandhi over the toolkit, Mr Patra alleged that the Congress leader wants to use the pandemic to destroy the image of PM Modi.
"Congress workers instructed to call the mutant strain as Modi strain," he wrote on Twitter.
The BJP spokesperson alleged that no stone has been left unturned to tarnish India's image with the help of foreign journalists.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that the new strain of the coronavirus would not be named after India, but the Congress wants to do so. The opposition party is ready to tarnish the country's image for its politics, Mr Patra said.
He alleged that the "Congress toolkit" has also suggested calling the Kumbh Mela the "Super Spreader Kumbh".
However, the Congress denied the allegation.
"BJP is propagating a fake 'toolkit' on 'COVID-19 mismanagement' and attributing it to AICC Research Department. We are filing an FIR for forgery against BJP chief JP Nadda and Sambit Patra. When our country is devastated by COVID, instead of providing relief, BJP shamelessly concocts forgeries," the research department chief of the opposition party, Rajeev Gowda, said in a tweet.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
