Road Shows and Public Meetings Lined up in Poll-Bound West Bengal

Election in West Bengal running in full swing and public meetings and road shows are making things busy for the politicians; read more…

Friday, 16th April 2021

Poll bound West Bengal will have back on back public meetings and road shows held by Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda on Friday.

Nadda is scheduled to address three public meetings and lead two road shows and Shah will hold two public meetings and have two road shows.

Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee will also be seen in two districts of South Bengal holding four public rallies.

The elections in the state and corresponding rallies are making people come out in large gatherings in complete disregard for all Covid-19 restrictive measures and protocols making the coronavirus situation in the country grim with an alarming spike in the number of new cases that are being recorded every day over the past month.

On Thursday, West Bengal logged 6,769 cases of new infections, the highest the state has recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.

The state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) is expected to meet the representatives of all 10 recognised political parties in the state on Friday to ensure Covid-19 related protocols are adhered to during the election campaigns.

The state’s CEO along with all other district magistrates had received orders from the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday to ensure strict implementation of Covid-19 related measures in political campaigns in the course of the three phases of elections are left.

Also Read: Shiv Sena Leader Alleges EC’s Decision to Impose 24-Hour Campaign Ban on Mamata Banerjee Was on BJP’s Behest

Mamata Banerjee had put in a request to the Election Commission for conducting the remaining three phases of elections in a single go. However, the request was turned down by the body who said that cannot be done.

In a Twitter post on Thursday, the CM wrote, “Amid an ongoing pandemic, we firmly opposed @ECISVEEP’s decision to conduct WB polls in 8 phases. Now, in view of the huge surge in #COVID19 cases, I urge the ECI to consider holding the remaining phases in ONE go. This will protect the people from further exposure to #COVID19.”

The poll body has no plans of granting the request as has been clarified by a senior official of the poll panel.

Elections were conducted in a single phase in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on April 6 while the state of Assam had their polls cast in three phases. West Bengal is left with three out of its eight phase election, the next being on April 17.

The News Talkie Bureau

Source:

Moneycontrol