Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not take the Covid-19 pandemic seriously and was instead focused on the West Bengal election that took place in March and April this year. "The prime minister did not take Covid seriously. His focus was on the Bengal election," Gandhi said at a virtual press conference on Tuesday. "90 per cent of deaths during the second wave of Covid were due to needless reasons like lack of oxygen. The prime minister's tears cannot wipe the pain of those families who lost their dear ones," he added. Rahul Gandhi also released a white paper on the Centre's Covid-19 management. He said the purpose of this was not to criticise the government but to help the nation prepare for a possible third wave of Covid-19. Countering Rahul Gandhi's "White paper'' on Centre management during the pandemic, the Bharatiya Janta Party's spokesperson Sambit Patra accused the Congress of politicising the nation's battle with the deadly infection. Sambit Patra, while addressing the issue, said that whenever the BJP takes any crucial action against the battle with the pandemic, Congress derails the process.