'What a failed lockdown looks like': Rahul slams Centre's COVID plan

New Delhi, June 05: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a scathing attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for its 'failed lockdown' measures to the coronavirus crisis, as he compared India's nationwide shutdown to those in other countries.

Gandhi tweeted five graphs that show that India had the least number of cases when the lockdown was imposed, however, it has the highest number of cases when 'Unlock' was announced. The graph compared India with Spain, Germany, UK and Italy.

Gandhi, who has been vocal about the lockdown had said that all the four stages of lockdown have 'failed' and claimed that India was the only country that was opening up when the Coronavirus infection was rising 'exponentially'.

"We are the only country in the world where the virus is rising exponentially and we are removing a lockdown. So, it is pretty clear that the aim and the purpose of the lockdown has failed," he stated.

The four-stage lockdown failed to produce the result that the Prime Minister had expected. He urged "Modi to once again to come on the front foot instead being low key".

The central government had imposed the lockdown, dubbed the world's biggest, in late March and has extended it several times before announcing a staggered exit starting next Monday.

The Health Ministry's data, however, has shown a dramatic rise in the number COVID-19 cases and deaths in recent days.

India now ranks as the 7th worst-hit nation in terms of cases and 12th in deaths - greater on both counts than China where the deadly virus emerged in 2019.