Winning praise from ordinary citizens and world bodies is one thing, but you know you’ve really hit it out of the park when your fiercest critics cannot help but applaud.
Malini Parthasarathy, who is the co-Chair of the left-leaning The Hindu Group and Director of its Editorial Strategy, has termed the Modi government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak as “brilliant.” After Rahul Gandhi had sought to attack the Modi government for its response, saying it was failing to act decisively, Parthasarty took to Twitter to correct him. “There’s no question that Narendra Modi and his govt are doing their best to stay ahead of the curve on the Coronavirus challenge & have done brilliantly so far in the impressive containment strategy. The Opposition must cooperate with Govt in fighting this deadly scourge!,” she said.
There’s no question that @narendramodi & his Govt are doing their best to stay ahead of the curve on the #Coronavirus challenge & have done brilliantly so far in the impressive containment strategy.The Opposition must cooperate with Govt in fighting this deadly scourge! https://t.co/hbtvJJlBOQ
— Malini Parthasarathy (@MaliniP) March 18, 2020
“The fact that transmission till now is at a low level despite the high density of our population certainly indicates successful containment. The ferocity of this pandemic which continues to baffle experts worldwide is a challenge to be fought & not an issue to score points!” she added.
Parthasarathy is known to be a fierce critic of the BJP government, and her stance surprised many on Twitter.
Whattt!!!https://t.co/97L1DlY8z2 pic.twitter.com/Vx3wTK498Q
— radha raju (@radharaju18) March 18, 2020
Ye main kya sun raha hu ? Seems ac hack ho gaya 😲😲 pic.twitter.com/pw2svNyvdF
— Dilip Jain दिलीप जैन 🇮🇳 (@dilipjain1979) March 18, 2020
The Hindu has a reputation for being left-leaning, had been particularly vocal in pointing out the supposed irregularities in the Rafale deal, which were subsequently dismissed by the Supreme Court. The Hindu is also thought to be sympathetic to left-leaning parties in Bengal and Kerala. Parthasarthy had personally called Modi a deeply divisive figure in the past and said that India cannot “digest” such a leader.
But it isn’t only The Hindu that has praised the Modi government for its handling of the coronavirus crisis. The World Health Organisation on Monday praised India’s efforts at containing the coronavirus. “We are very heartened when we see this. When I talk about community, I don’t simply mean communities in each country, it’s the world community and we as the world need to work together. So this strong regional initiative is very positive and welcome step,” said WHO Spokesperson Margaret Harris. Ordinary citizens too have lauded the Modi government for its response. A grateful man whose daughter was evacuated from Italy had earlier said that the Modi government was like a second parent for his child. Earlier, a man who was held in quarantine outside Delhi had said that the facilities in India were better than even those in Germany.
