Nothing to be achieved by lighting candles, only grid failure: Cong ignores PIB fact-check

Congress leader Hussain Dalwai on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should make arrangements for providing food and means for the needy people rather than calling for initiatives like lighting lamps. Backing Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut's statement he also said the '9 min at 9 pm' call may cause a power grid failure. 

'Nothing can be achieved by lighting candles'

Speaking to news agency ANI, Dalwai said, "The decision to shut all the lightbulbs and lighting lamps is not required to fight coronavirus. As the Maharashtra minister Nitin Raut, it may cause a power grid failure. The Prime Minister should be focusing on providing food and means to the migrant labourers and poor who are forced to live on the roads." 

"Whenever the Prime Minister comes on television he gives discourses and never elaborates on policy matters. The government should provide help to small businesses in the times of lockdown. PM Modi has no vision and nothing can be achieved by lighting candles," he added.

PM Modi tweets Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s poem

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday shared a video of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the BJP’s veteran leader, reciting one of his famous poems to remind people to light 'diyas' on Sunday.

“Aao, phir se diya jalayein (Come, let’s light a lamp once again),” PM Modi tweeted.

In a video message, the Prime Minister asked citizens to turn all lights off in their houses at 9 pm on Sunday (April 5) and to stand at their doors or windows with a candle, diya and torch for nine minutes in a battle against the COVID-19.  In his address to the nation on March 24, the Prime Minister had announced a 21-day lockdown in the country to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, which has infected over 3,000 people in the country.

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Confirmed COVID-19 cases in India have jumped to 3,374, according to the Union Health Ministry. The Health Ministry has said that there are 3,030 active cases of COVID-19 in India and 267 patients have recovered so far. The death toll because of the deadly virus has risen to 77.

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(With ANI inputs)