Coronavirus: Rahul Gandhi tweeted a photo of two children walking together with a message
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi today tweeted a photo of two children walking together - one wearing a Lord Krishna costume, the other in a skull cap - with a message seeking "to forge one common purpose" in the fight against COVID-19.
"The #Coronavirus is an opportunity for India to unite as one people, putting aside differences of religion, caste & class; to forge one common purpose: the defeat of this deadly virus," Mr Gandhi tweeted.
"Compassion, empathy and self-sacrifice are central to this idea. Together we will win this battle," he tweeted.
In the photo, the two boys have put their arms around each other and are smiling as they walk down a path full of fallen autumn leaves.
The opposition had criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeals to citizens - the first to clap for health workers, and the second to turn off power and light lamps to show solidarity with the fight against COVID-19 - as unnecessary exercises at a time when health professionals have been asking for medical equipment.
So far over 4,000 people have been found infected with coronavirus in India; 109 have died. Over 1,000 of India's total cases, or nearly 30 per cent, are connected to an event organised by the Islamic sect Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi's Nizamuddin last month.
The union cabinet, meanwhile, decided that salaries of central ministers and MPs will be slashed by 30 per cent for the coming year because of the coronavirus crisis.
The "maturity and seriousness" shown by the public during the lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus is unprecedented, PM Modi said today, addressing BJP workers on the party's 40th foundation day. "It is going to be a long haul, we do not have to tire, our resolve and mission are to emerge victorious in fight against this pandemic," he told BJP workers.