New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Sunday lashed out at the Narendra Modi-led government for allegedly "lying and stalling data" on the total deaths due to Covid-19, claiming that "56 inches can't mask 56 lakhs". Modi's "chhappan inch ki chhati (56-inch chest)" jibe at Samajwadi Party veteran Mulayam Singh Yadav during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls had become a big punch line for the BJP.
Moitra reacted to a report by The New York Times that claimed that the Indian government was stalling the efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) to publish its estimate on excess Covid-19 deaths.
"Lying and stalling data publication doesn't make truth go away. India official Covid death is 5.2 lakhs- WHO estimate is 8 times this figure. Let's face facts & learn from them. 56 inches can't mask 56 lakhs," she tweeted.
According to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday, the death toll from Covid has climbed to 5,21,751 with four fresh fatalities.