Kerala: All-party meet today to decide on more restrictions

T’PURAM: The all-party meeting convened by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will be held on Monday. The meeting has been convened in the wake of the precarious situation the state is facing due to the second wave of Covid-19.
The all-party meet has been convened to discuss the possibility of imposing more restrictions for checking the massive spread during the second wave.
Already there is a demand for a total lockdown on May 2, the day the counting of votes for the assembly elections is scheduled. The government is likely to request all the political parties to avoid the celebrations and victory processions to prevent the gatherings.
The health department has already put forward the suggestion that all victory rallies, processions and celebrations of political parties should be banned. It has also demanded that the crowd gathering before the counting centres should also be banned on May 2.
All eyes are on the all-party meet to know whether the government would decide on yet another weekend lockdown-like restriction on May 2, which is a Sunday. The health department and the experts are of the view that the increase in the caseload is the result of the election campaigning and hence another mass gathering of people should not be allowed in the state.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has already said that he would support the demand for avoiding all kinds of celebrations during the counting day. However, he was not ready to support a total lockdown in the state.
All political parties and the state government are against imposing a total lockdown. Hence only more stringent restrictions can be expected in the meeting. The health department is of the view that the present restriction should continue for two more weeks.
At present, depending upon the caseload and the TPR each district administration has been given the powers to impose 144 in the areas where the TPR is more. In the micro containment zones already there is lockdown-like restrictions. Even the ICMR has called for such curbs.