Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today tweeted to say that he is suspending all his public rallies in West Bengal in view of the Covid situation in the state. In a brief post, Rahul Gandhi also advised other political leaders against holding large public rallies.
Rahul himself conducted election rallies in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu when they were having the highest spike but interestingly refused to address more rallies in West Bengal which not only has comparatively fewer cases but also comes on the lowest priority list of Congress.
Congress's ex-chief Rahul till date has adressed only one election rally in West Bengal, since Congress consider themselves more of a opposition of TMC and they don't want to divide votes of BJP's opposition as it will secure a victory for them.
Daily COVID-19 cases being reported in West Bengal have surged in the recent weeks. This prompted many, especially on social media, to call on political leaders from all parties to cancel large public meetings.
Bengal is heading for polls to elect a new assembly. The eight-phase election got underway in late March. Three more phases of voting are pending. The last round of polling is scheduled for April 29. Counting of votes will happen on May 2, along with Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The political leaders of all political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party, TMC have openly flouted all COVID-19 norms put in place by the Health Ministry while campaigning for the first five phases of the elections. The norms of social distancing were tossed during the massive rallies and roadshows held by the political parties.
However, with the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, the Election Commission (EC) has decided to curtail the timing of the campaign for the remaining phases of the election and extended the silence period to 72 hours for each of the phases.
In its order, the EC said that no rallies, public meetings, street plays, nukkad sabhas, shall be allowed on any day during the days of the campaign between 7 pm and 10 am.
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