Covid surge in West Bengal: Cong, CPI(M) say no to rallies; TMC and BJP show no sign of giving up

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, April 18

Kolkata streets, known for hustle and bustle lasting till midnight, now wears a deserted look as the evening sets in. As people keep indoors, auto-rickshaws that offer ride to multiple passengers by charging them individually have to wait for a long time to get the required number of commuters for a trip.

Bangla news channels still live-telecast election rallies by heavyweight netas. But even politicians of the stature of Narendra Modi or Amit Shah or Mamata Banerjee look somewhat incongruous on such occasions as the fear of the virus grips people.

West Bengal on Saturday reported an unprecedented 7,713 positive cases out of the 46,971 samples tested.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announced this morning that he would no longer address any rally in West Bengal since a large gathering could be an ideal place for spread of Covid. “In view of the Covid situation, I am suspending all my public rallies in West Bengal. I would advise all political leaders to think deeply about the consequences of holding large public rallies under the current circumstances”, Rahul, who toured West Bengal recently for a day and addressed two rallies, tweeted.

Chandra Kumar Bose, grandnephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, is among those who have welcomed Rahul for the step.

“One of the most sensible decisions taken by Rahul Gandhi”, Bose, who twice contested elections on BJP ticket, told this reporter.

Rohan S Mitra, Congress leader and son of the late WBPCC president Somen Kumar Mitra, said Rahul Gandhi had meetings scheduled at Noapara and Baduria. He was also supposed to address two meetings each in Maldah and Murshidabad districts. “Since it would have been impossible to maintain social distancing in the meetings, he decided to cancel his engagements”, Mitra said.

The CPI(M) too announced earlier that it would not hold large rallies in West Bengal in view of the Covid situation.

But the TMC and the BJP, the two biggest contenders in the fray, show no sign of giving up on election rallies. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who addressed two rallies each in Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts and held a roadshow in Kolkata on Sunday, is slated to address three rallies in Uttar Dinajpur district on Monday. The BJP programmes on Sunday included rallies by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Purbasthali Uttar and Swarupnagar.

For BJP, TMC, show must go on

• The TMC and the BJP, the two biggest contenders in the fray, show no sign of giving up on election rallies. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who addressed two rallies each in Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts and held a roadshow in Kolkata on Sunday, is slated to address three rallies in Uttar Dinajpur district on Monday.
• The BJP programmes on Sunday included rallies by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Purbasthali Uttar and Swarupnagar. The highlight of canvassing by the BJP on Monday will be a rally by PM Modi in Malda.

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