Rahul Gandhi, the senior Congress chief, tweeted today that he is suspending all public rallies in West Bengal due to the Covid situation in the state. Mr. Gandhi also urged political leaders not to stage major public rallies in a short article.
“I would advise all political leaders to seriously consider the implications of organizing massive public rallies in the current circumstances,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted.
West Bengal, which is in the middle of an eight-phased assembly election, has seen an unexpected increase in COVID-19 incidents.
While campaigning for the first five phases of the elections, political leaders from all political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, TMC, blatantly violated all COVID-19 norms imposed by the Health Ministry. During the huge protests and roadshows organized by political parties, social distancing conventions were thrown out the window.
However, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the region, the Election Commission (EC) has agreed to shorten the campaign timing for the remaining phases of the election and extend the silence duration to 72 hours for each process.
The order went into effect at 7 p.m. on Friday.
“The time of silence for marches, public gatherings, street plays, nukkad sabha, bike rallies, or any other gathering for campaigning purposes in the State of West Bengal shall be extended to 72 hours before the end of the election for Phase 6, Phase 7, and Phase 8,” it added.
The Commission also took a strong stance against persistent abuses by celebrity campaigners/political leaders/candidates who are meant to be torchbearers for the anti-COVID-19 movement, grossly breaching COVID-19 guidelines and exposing themselves and the public to the risk of contamination.
West Bengal recorded 6,910 new infections and 26 deaths just days before the fifth phase of voting. The estimated number of cases has reached 6,43,795, according to the state health bulletin. The total number of active cases in the state is 41,047.
