Prime Minister Narendra Modi has canceled his planned trip to Bengal campaign for the upcoming state election, citing meetings to assess the country’s Covid situation. Amit Shah, the Home Minister, also cut short his campaign today, canceling two of his three Bengal meetings in order to attend a Covid conference in Delhi. All of the BJP’s top leaders, according to the party, have canceled the rest of their campaign.
“Tomorrow will be chairing high-level meetings to review the prevailing COVID-19 situation. As a result, I will not be visiting West Bengal “PM Modi ended his campaign in Bengal with a tweet, effectively ending his campaigning in the state, which will vote in three more rounds before the election results are announced on May 2.
This is the first time the Prime Minister has canceled a campaign visit to Bengal, where rallies by him, other BJP politicians, and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee drew large, fearful crowds during the Covid era. At a time when Covid incidents are on the rise, the optics for the governing party have been especially grim. India announced a global high of 3.14 lakh cases in a single day and over 2,000 deaths this morning.
Tomorrow, Prime Minister Modi was expected to speak at four election rallies in Bengal.
The Prime Minister appeared to laud the huge crowd at a rally in Bengal on Saturday, despite the fact that India had recorded 2.34 lakh Covid cases in a single day.
Top BJP leaders organized public meetings and roadshows in Bengal even today. Mamata Banerjee, who is seeking a third term in office despite a heavy BJP opposition, has cut the length of her speeches but has not stopped campaigning.
After being chastised for continuing to hold large rallies after the outbreaks, the BJP announced that the number of people attending would be limited to 500 and that the PM’s Saturday meetings would be combined with his Friday campaign.
This week, Prime Minister Modi held a series of meetings as the country’s spiraling Covid cases threaten to overload healthcare facilities in many states. He’s consulted with public health authorities, vaccine makers, and pharmaceutical firms. He chaired a briefing today on the escalating oxygen crisis, which has seen states squabble with one another and states spar with the center over supplies.
