Covid effect: BJP to hold virtual rallies ahead of Assam election

GUWAHATI: With assembly polls slated to be held in Assam next year, BJP in Assam is going to connect to its workers digitally through six virtual rallies in the coming months.
Assam BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass on Monday said that as maintaining social distancing is going to be pivotal to contain the spread of the virus, the BJP has decided to unite its workers through the virtual rallies — one each in Dibrugarh and in Barak Valley, two in northern Assam, one in Guwahati and the final one in Barpeta or Bongaigaon in lower Assam.
“The concept of virtual really is that there will not be any public. There will be stage arrangements and media people but with live streaming through Zoom and Facebook live we will reach out to lakhs of people. We have decided to reach out to the people at the village level digitally, as there is no possibility of holding big political meetings at least in the next two months,” Dass said, while addressing the media here on Modi government's first anniversary of the second term in the Centre and fourth anniversary of the BJP-led government in Assam.
He added that for the next three months, the state BJP has chalked out its plans to organize its organizational meetings virtually. The virtual rallies will also take place at the 39 organizational districts of the BJP in Assam and in 390 mandal committees through video conferencing.
“With the help of our IT cell, state BJP has already been reviewing the organization work put in by MPs to the party workers at the mandal level,” Dass said. He added that in order to maintain social distancing and simultaneously establish relations with people at the booth level, two WhatsApp groups will be opened for each of the 25,000 booth committees of the party. One WhatsApp group will be for the youth wing and the other for the enthusiasts who appreciate the work of the BJP government but not necessarily a part of the saffron party.
Slamming the allegations levelled by the opposition parties who have been accusing the BJP-led government of failing to meet the expectations of the people during the coronavirus crisis, Dass said the BJP-led governments at the Centre and the state have done a commendable job at the time of the pandemic. Able leadership by BJP government in Assam has managed to contain community spread of Covid-19, said Dass.
“People are well aware about the achievements of the Assam government and the Centre in containing the coronavirus infection. Even the WHO has acknowledged how the Government of India could prevent deaths of thousands of people by announcing lockdown,” Dass said.