Rahul Gandhi suspends his West Bengal Congress rallies amid COVID; advises same to all

Amid a huge surge in COVID-19 cases reported in India, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi announced the suspension of all upcoming public rallies in West Bengal on Sunday. As India reported over 2.6 lakh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the Congress leader urged political leaders to 'think deeply' about holding election rallies with huge crowds under such circumstances. Rahul Gandhi's remarks come as the fifth phase of Assembly elections in West Bengal concluded on Saturday which recorded 79.18% voter turnout. 

The Congress and Rahul Gandhi have targeted the BJP leaders, including PM Modi, for addressing rallies in the presence of huge crowds while remaining oblivious to the fact that its party leaders were doing the same. The announcement of Rahul Gandhi suspending his rallies was hailed by other Congress leaders who went on to claim that he was 'setting an example, as usual', perhaps referring to the feather that the Congress MP placed on his cap, claiming that the Centre had fast-tracked EUAs for foreign-made and approved COVID-19 vaccines on Rahul Gandhi's suggestion. It is pertinent to point out that Rahul Gandhi has addressed just one rally in West Bengal's Goalpokhar on Wednesday where he accused BJP of trying to destroy and divide West Bengal & urged the people to "save" the state by stopping BJP's advent.

Meanwhile, TMC supremo & incumbent West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had urged the Election Commission (EC) to `combine the remaining phases of the Assembly election & finish it in one go in order to reduce the exposure of the people to COVID. the TMC supremo said that her party had opposed EC's decision to hold the elections in eight phases and called for the remaining phases to be combined. Targeting the EC, CM Mamata Banerjee on Saturday asked why it couldn't club the phases while it had curtailed campaigning period and accused the EC of acting on the behest of the BJP. 

Rahul Gandhi suspends poll rallies in West Bengal

India records highest single-day rise of 2,61,500 cases

A record single-day rise of 2,61,500 coronavirus infections has taken India's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,47,88,109, while active cases have surpassed the 18-lakh mark, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll increased to 1,77,150 with a record 1,501 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. Registering a steady increase for the 39th day in a row, the active cases stand at 18,01,316, comprising 12.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 86.62 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,28,09,643, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.20 per cent, the data stated.

West Bengal Assembly elections

Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had swept the 2016 Assembly polls by bagging 211 seats in the 294-member Assembly. In West Bengal, 294 seats are up for grabs and people will be able to cast their votes at 1,01,916 polling stations. Buoyed by its stupendous 2019 Lok Sabha performance, BJP is looking to oust TMC and is aiming at winning over 200 seats this time. While Congress was the second-largest party in 2016, it has tied with the Left and the ISF to form the Sanjukta Morcha. 

The voter turnout for the seats that went to the polls in the first, second, third, fourth & fifth phases was 84.63 per cent, 86.11 per cent, 84.61 per cent, 79.90 per cent & 79.18% respectively. The polling for the remaining phases will take place on April 22, April 26 and April 29. Meanwhile, the election results will be declared on May 2.