Puducherry, Kerala nurses, Assamese gamcha: PM’s vaccine session irks Oppn

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 1

Replete with political messaging, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to AIIMS here to receive the first dose of the Covid vaccine on Monday upset his rivals with the Congress and the Trinamool Congress reacting sharply.

The PM wore a traditional Assamese ‘gamcha’ (scarf) and received his shot from P Niveda, a native of Puducherry. Rosamma Anil, a nurse from Kerala, was the second vaccinator in the team deputed to inoculate the PM. Assam, Puducherry and Kerala go to the polls from March 27.

Though the PM has worn an Assamese ‘gamcha’ on several occasions and the AIIMS nurses said they learnt of the VVIP visit only this morning and were called in to inoculate him as they were on duty at the vaccination centre, Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Choudhary was not amused.

“In PM’s inoculation visuals, there was a ‘gamcha’ of Assam and nurses from Kerala and Puducherry. Coincidentally, there are elections in these states. It would have been five states had he also carried Sri Aurobindo’s photograph and Rabindranath Tagore’s Geetanjali,” Choudhary said.

TMC’s Santanu Sen, former president of the Indian Medical Association, asked the PM where his mask was during the inoculation.