Senior Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram had said on Monday no state government had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi for permission to procure Covid-19 vaccine.
This lie created a social media uproar.
Netizens presented him with copies of Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee, Hemant Soren, Bhupesh Baghel.
In the past weeks, many opposition leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi had asked PM Modi to decentralise the vaccine procurement process and allow states to buy vaccines.
Soon after, the opposition changed track and started demanding that the centre procure vaccines on their behalf and provide it to them free of cost.
In a televised address to the nation on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Union government would procure vaccines and provide it to states free of cost.
Of the total vaccine production in the country, private players have been allowed to procure 25 percent.
Once he was caught, Chidambaram tweeted, “I told ANI ‘please tell us which state government demanded that it should be allowed to directly procure vaccines’ Social media activists have posted the copy of the letter of CM, West Bengal to PM making such a request. I was wrong. I stand corrected.”
The scion of the Nehru family and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had also written to the prime minister asking him to allow states to procure vaccines.
Pune-based Serum Institute’s and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s vaccines are currently being administered in the country.
