Covid-19: PM Modi to address rally virtually in Bengal due to surge

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address an election rally virtually on Friday as the second wave of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) continues to affect the nation. PM Modi is also scheduled to chair a series of high-level meetings to review the nation’s condition in the wake of the prevailing situation of the pandemic.

“Tomorrow, I will be chairing high-level meetings to review the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Due to that, I would not be going to West Bengal,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Thursday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) later confirmed that the PM will address voters in Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum and Kolkata virtually at 5pm.

The BJP has been targeted by the opposition parties for holding big rallies in Bengal which is among the top ten states which are contributing to the daily caseload of Covid-19. The party restricted its large public meetings to a maximum of 500 people in the state last week after several medical experts said that large political gatherings had the potential to become superspreader events.

The BJP unit of Bengal said that the decision was taken after understanding the gravity of the situation and it requested the Prime Minister to address all the constituencies at one go. “BJP Bengal unit and the voters of West Bengal were looking forward to his visit but we realise the gravity of the situation and the rationale for him not being able to make it in person. We have since requested the Prime Minister to address all these constituencies at one go through a virtual address and we are pleased to confirm that he has agreed to do so,” BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Bengal recorded 11,948 cases on Thursday, the highest single-day surge, since the onset of the pandemic. The death toll in the state also inched towards the 11,000-mark as 56 patients succumbed to 10,766.