New Delhi,june 5:
India implemented a “draconian” lockdown that was porous and ended up with the “worst of both worlds” as it resulted in decimating its economy and flattening the GDP curve instead of that of the coronavirus infections, industrialist Rajiv Bajaj said on today.During a video interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Bajaj also said that opening up the economy would be a Herculean task, and asserted that none other than the Prime Minister should purge people’s mind of fear through a “very clear and aligned narrative”.”The way India has been locked down is draconian. We tried to implement a hard lockdown which was porous. So I think we have ended up with the worst of both worlds,”, the 53-year-old businessman said. Noting that “we are not seeing a smooth, concerted, rhythmic movement towards unlocking”, the managing director of Bajaj Auto said, “you have definitely decimated the economy. You flattened the wrong curve. It is not the infection curve that you flattened, it is the GDP curve. This is what we have ended up with the worst of both worlds.”The BJP downplayed Bajaj’s remarks with party’s spokesperson on economic affairs Gopal Krishna Agarwal saying that Gandhi used the businessman as a “bouncing wall” for his ideas during the conversation in which the opposition leader did “most” of the talking.”Everybody has a right to have an opinion but Rajiv Bajaj is not an expert on COVID-19 and how to deal with it,” he said.Taking a dig at the industrialist, BJP’s Amit Malviya said Bajaj “hailed” Sweden’s strategy of not imposing a lockdown to deal with the pandemic, even as the country’s chief epidemiologist has admitted that this approach was a mistake, causing a high rate of fatality.
