Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the country in the last few weeks, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the Prime Minister has "surrendered and is refusing to fight the pandemic".

In a post on Social media, Mr Gandhi said, ''Covid19 is spreading rapidly into new parts of the country. GOI has no plan to defeat it. PM is silent. He has surrendered and is refusing to fight the pandemic.''
Mr Gandhi, who is MP from Wayanad in Kerala, also posted on his Twitter account a news report which said that the government "retreated in the face of sharp increase in COVID cases in the country over the last two weeks".
Mr Gandhi renewed his attack on a day when India's COVID-19 tally crossed five lakh-mark.
On Saturday, India reported 18,552 new COVID-19 cases, single-day hike, taking its tally to 508953, as per the Union Health Ministry update.