PM Modi should make Nitin Gadkari in charge of war against Covid: Subramanian Swamy

New Delhi, May 05: As India grapples with Covid-19 spread, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday adviced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assign Nitin Gadkari, the responsibility to manage the current pandemic.

Taking to twitter, Swamy posted "India will survive Coronavirus Pandemic as it did Islamic invaders and British Imperialists. We could face one more wave that targets children unless strict precautions now are taken. Modi should therefore delegate the conduct of this war to Gadkari. Relying on PMO is useless".

Respong to a user remarked that the health minister should be sacked for his inept handling of the pandemic, Swamy wrote, "No No. Harsh Vardhan has not been allowed free hand. But he is too polite to assert his authority. With Gadkari he will bloom."

Coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc across India with tens of thousands of people losing their lives. The central government has come under sharp criticism for its poor handling of the national crisis.

For the past several days, hospitals across the national capital and its suburbs have been sending out SOS messages on social media about a shortage of oxygen.

A record 3,780 fresh COVID-19 fatalities were registered in a single day in India taking the death toll to 2,26,188, while 3,82,315 new coronavirus infections were recorded, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

With the fresh cases, the total tally of COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 2,06,65,148.