They laugh at you, then you win: Rahul Gandhi as Centre approves Russia's Sputnik-V vaccine

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a jibe at the central government after it granted permission for emergency use authorisation of Sputnik-V, the Russian vaccine against COVID-19.

"First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you, then you win," tweeted Rahul Gandhi.

His remarks come against the backdrop of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders allegations that he was lobbying for foreign vaccines.

"Part-time politician, full-time lobbyist! Is that a surprise?" Union Minister Smriti Ir had tweeted.

"After failing as a part-time politician, has Rahul Gandhi switched to full time lobbying? First he lobbied for fighter plane compes by trying to derail India's acquisition programme. Now he is lobbying for pharma compes by asking for arbitrary approvals for foreign vaccines," tweeted Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The National Regulator on Tuesday granted permission for restricted use in emergency situations to Sputnik-V vaccine.

Sputnik V is now approved for use in 60 countries around the world. It ranks second among coronavirus vaccines globally in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators.

The emergency use authorisation of Sputnik V comes at a time when India is facing the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic with the number of new cases increasing each day. Now, the country has three vaccines for its inoculation program against COVID-19.

India reported 1,84,372 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, said the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday. With this, the total number of cases has gone up to 1,38,73,825.

In the last 24 hours, 1,027 COVID-related deaths were reported in the country taking the death toll to 1,72,085. The active number of cases stands at 13,65,704.

In the last 24 hours, 82,339 people recovered from the disease. With this, the total recoveries reached 1,23,36,036.

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 11,11,79,578 till today.

( With inputs from ANI )