TMC uploads video of candle flickering, outlines its nine demands from govt

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to light a 'diya' against the darkness of coronavirus, TMC leader Derek O'Brien put out a video on Sunday night which shows lit candle flickering against a black background and mentions the party's nine demands from the government.

"Can we get these nine things done now?" the first message in the one-minute video says, and then the demands appear one by one.

Relax state fiscal limit from 3 to 5 per cent, release GST dues to states, up stimulus package from 1 per cent of GDP to 5 per cent, the Rajya Sabha MP demanded in the video.

He also demanded the government to make testing for coronavirus free and make available quality personal protection kits for medical professionals.

At a time when large scale job losses are feared, O'Brien demanded that the government announce an emergency wage subsidy to stop layoffs, open up buffer stock of foodgrains and a full package for daily wage labourers.

The video ends with the ninth demand, "Act quick, not clever."

"We need to take these 9 urgent steps to fight the #COVID19 challenge," he wrote.

Prime Minister Modi had called for a nine-minute candlelight vigil on April 5 as a means to dispel the darkness spread by coronavirus. He had asked people to switch off the lights at their homes and light a candle or a diya at their doorstep or in the balcony at 9 pm on Sunday.

Screen grab from TMC leader Derek O'Brie's Twitter