PM Modi has often said that late Atal Bihari Vajpayee was his political mentor. (Photo Credit: News Nation)
New Delhi:
Ahead of '9 pm-9-minute' call on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter on Saturday with a special message for India. Invoking late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Modi posted an iconic poem written by the BJP veteran, who was also a giant of the Hindi literature. In the 49-second clip, last of doyens of Indian politics is seen reciting his legendary poem 'Aao Phir Se Diya Jalayein'. The beautiful lines seemed to be apt for PM Modi's call for lighting a candle at 9 pm on Sunday evening. As of now, the post has been retweeted 17.7K times and has garnered 71.6K likes. PM Modi has often said that Vajpayee was his political mentor. After the demise of three-time PM on August 16 last year, Modi had walked beside the hearse carrying the mortal remains of Vajpayee during his final journey in New Delhi. PM Modi had quietly followed the hearse that was on its way to Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, the funeral venue. Last year while unveiling the statue of the former prime minister at Lok Bhawan in Lucknow, PM Modi had said that "Many good things can be said about the life of Atal ji... He knew when to speak and when to stay silent. That's an amazing power." (Coronavirus Outbreak Live Updates)
आओ दीया जलाà¤ÂÂÂÂÂÂं। pic.twitter.com/6sc5bplbVy
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 4, 2020
In a bid to unite the people in battled against coronavirus, PM Modi asked everyone to light a diya/mobile phone flashlight or a candle at 9 pm on April 5. He said that by switching off the lights and lighting the diyas, the citizens will unite everyone and bring others from 'darkness to light'. This was the first message by the Prime Minister in April. Last month, he had addressed the nation twice on the COVID-19 crisis. In his first address on March 19, he had told India about the pandemic and how our nation must come together to fight the health crisis. He had called for 'Janta curfew', which was voluntary and very successful. Within a week, he addressed the nation again on March 24 at 8 pm to announce the 21-day lockdown from midnight on the same day. India has so far seen nearly 3,000 confirmed cases and 69 deaths due to COVID-19 infection.
The Opposition has attacked PM Modi for his 'light a diya' campaign. Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to switch off all the lights and light up a candle or a ‘diya’ or mobilephone's flashlight in a show of solidarity against COVID-19 on April 5, Congress’ leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said there is no relation between turning off lights and burning candles with the fight against coronavirus. “I believe it and that's why I'll not light a candle or turn off light but continue to fight COVID-19”, Chowdhury added. The Congress leader added that he will not light a ‘diya’ saying, “I'll be called anti-national, but I'm ready.”
Meanwhile, coronavirus cases have reached an alarming level in India. According to the latest bulletin by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday morning, 69 people have died across India due to the COVID-19 infection. The number of confirmed cases stood at 2,902. However, there has been no confirmation or denial from the Centre on community transmission. There are cases where the person infected with novel coronavirus had no travel history. The government maintains that the rise in the number of cases is due to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster in Delhi's Nizamuddin. So far, over 600 Jamaat members have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. With nearly 9,000 people linked to Markaz under watch, the cases will see an exponential rise. In the biggest rise in a single day, over 600 cases were reported in the last 24 hours. Amid this worrying data, there is a ray of hope also. The health ministry said that 183 people have been cured of coronavirus.
