The BJP rally at Majuli in Assam that Amit Shah attended on 22 March | Twitter: @AmitShah
The BJP rally at Majuli in Assam that Amit Shah attended on 22 March | Twitter: @AmitShah
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New Delhi: As the election campaign in Assam, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu picks up pace, competing parties, cutting across political lines, are throwing Covid-19 safety protocols to the wind.  

This amid a surge in coronavirus cases across the country. The country recorded 47,005 new cases Sunday, the highest single-day increase since 11 November last year, taking the total number of active cases to 3,45,122.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last week held a video conference with chief ministers  and warned that if safety norms are not followed, “then a condition for a nationwide outbreak may emerge”.  

He has also been advocating a ‘dawai bhi, kadai bhi (following strict protocols along with vaccination)’ policy to buck the surge. 

But Modi’s own rallies have been flouting the norms. Take the prime minister’s rallies in West Bengal and Assam on 20 March. At both places, huge crowds thronged the venue with little social distancing, and a majority not sporting masks.   

 

His colleagues have fared no better. Home Minister Amit Shah attended a rally in Majuli, Assam, on 22 March, where a majority of those present on stage, including Shah, were not wearing masks. The crowd too followed none of the Covid protocols. 

 

BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal blamed the lack of adherence on local party teams and the administrations on the ground.

“We are requesting everybody to follow the guidelines because it is a serious matter. However, it is more about awareness,” he told ThePrint. “There is no official mechanism in the party centrally to ensure that the guidelines are followed but we have been interacting with local teams and urging them to follow the norms.”

This trend, however, isn’t confined to the BJP alone. 

Rallies of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress (TMC) routinely witness crowds that follow no social distancing norms. 

Down south, DMK president M.K. Stalin’s rallies in Tamil Nadu are no different. They too have led to huge gatherings where no Covid-19 protocols were followed. 

Participants clustered together and ignoring social distancing guidelines are also a facet of rallies held by Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Assam and Kerala. 

 

ThePrint sent texts to Congress spokespersons Pawan Khera and Supriya Srinate, who was also called, but neither responded until the publishing of this report. 

What the EC guidelines say

The Election Commission of India (EC)  guidelines for holding a physical rally mandate social distancing of at least two metres between participants and masks for all of them, including those on stage. 

Door-to-door campaigning has been restricted to five people, including the candidates.

The EC had taken note of crowded rallies ahead of the Bihar elections in October last year and warned political parties of action in case of violation of its instructions on maintaining crowd discipline and taking Covid-related precautions during campaigning.  

So far, however, it has not reacted this election season. ThePrint reached the EC spokesperson through calls and text messages but is yet to receive a response. 

The courts, however, have looked to step in. The Madras High Court had Monday urged political parties and candidates in Tamil Nadu to follow safety protocols amid a rise in Covid-19 cases in the state. This, after a PIL was filed in the court seeking to stop political parties from campaigning. 

Tamil Nadu is among the six states that account for 80 per cent of the new Covid-19 cases reported.  

The Delhi High Court had also Monday sought the EC’s response to a plea seeking to debar campaigners and candidates from campaigning in the upcoming assembly elections for repeatedly violating Covid-19 guidelines. 

The court issued notices to the Centre and EC on the petition and asked them to reply to the plea, which claimed that these election rallies could become super-spreaders. 

(Edited by Arun Prashanth)

 

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