Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday slammed the central government in a veiled manner over its preparedness for the novel coronavirus. Gandhi said he is “feeling sad” about the coronavirus crisis in the country.

Taking it to Twitter, he said, “I am feeling sad because this was completely avoidable. We had time to prepare. We should have taken this threat much more seriously and have been much better prepared.”

Rahul Gandhi was reacting on the tweet by a doctor about the hospitals in Haryana facing acute shortage of essential protective equipment such as masks and gloves.

“When they arrive, please send N95 masks and gloves to my grave. Taali aur thaali bhi baja dena waha (sent claps and plates there)! Regards, frustrated sarkari doctor,” Dr Kamna Kakkar tweeted, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Yesterday also Rahul Gandhi had attacked the government over its preparedness to fight the grave situation aroused due to the deadly virus.

In a tweet in Hindi, he said, “Respected Prime Minister, WHO’s advice 1. Ventilator 2. Surgical Mask, why did the Indian government allow the export of all these things till March 19, instead of keeping sufficient stock? Which kind of forces has encouraged these games? Isn’t this a criminal conspiracy?”

In February also, Rahul Gandhi had tweeted regarding the urgency to address the coronavirus threat. “The Corona Virus is an extremely serious threat to our people and our economy. My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously. Timely action is critical,” he had said.

The deadly coronavirus has taken nearly 500 people in its grip and nine have died.

Nearly all of India including 32 states and union territories that cover 500 districts are under complete lockdown, as a measure to contain the deadly coronavirus.