Prashant Kishor says 21-days lockdown “a bit too long”, blames “shaky preparedness” of the Centre

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday questioned the Centre on its decision to impose 21-day lockdown in the country to handle the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. He said the lockdown “might be a bit too long”, adding that “this is the price one pays for being behind the curve”.

Kishor wrote on his Twitter handle that “With the shaky preparedness to deal with the #CovidCrisis and very little to safeguard the poor, we could be staring at some tough days ahead”. Kishor is poll strategist for Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee. He recently resigned from the Nitish Kumar led Janata Dal United after a fallout with the Bihar chief minister over the Centre’s implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening announced a 21-day lockdown all over India to check the spread of COVID-19. He said that such a step was essential at this stage. The infection which took more time to spread initially, spreads at a faster rate in the subsequent stages, the PM said.

The number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the country is 512. So far, 40 people have been treated and discharged.