No Covid-19 protocol at Bengal rallies of Nadda, Abhishek Banerjee

Eighteen-year-old Avijit Roy and a dozen of his fellow first-time voter friends had huddled like bees on a tractor that was ferrying Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters from local villages to a temporary helipad at Jamui in Bengal’s East Burdwan district on Tuesday afternoon.

A few hundred people, many of whom had crowded around the temporary helipad built on a paddy field, were waiting for BJP national president JP Nadda to land for a roadshow from Jamui to Shera Bazar, a part of the Khandaghosh assembly constituency located about 130 kilometres to the west of Kolkata and is part of the state’s rice bowl.

It was 2 pm and the temperature was unforgiving. Yet, there was no dearth of enthusiasm among people. The only thing missing was safety protocols issued by the Election Commission (EC) in view of the fresh surge in Covid-19 cases in the state and the rest of the country.

“The coronavirus has gone. There has not been a single case in these areas since last year,” said Roy, explaining why he and none of his friends were wearing masks. “Jai Sri Ram,” shouted his friends as they headed for the helipad, waving bundles of saffron balloons that party workers were distributing.

“People in these parts do not care much about Covid-19 protocols. After all, they have been through a long lockdown period last year,” said Sunil Sinha, a local BJP worker whose only safety device against nature was a pair of dark sunglasses.

Also read: EC bans Bengal BJP leader Rahul Sinha from campaigning for 48 hrs

Though nobody cared to maintain social distancing norms, most of the local policemen and central armed police force (CAPF) personnel were in masks. “We cannot afford to be negligent,” said a CAPF constable.

It was 3 pm when Nadia’s scarlet red helicopter arrived. As the rotor blades raised a small dust storm, people around the helipad ran in every direction. They laughed. “This is the funny part. We love to watch helicopters land and take off,” quipped Roy.

Nadda boarded an SUV and headed for the spot from where the roadshow would start. The crowd followed him on foot.

At Chanditala, a part of the same Khandaghosh assembly constituency, Trinamool Congress (TMC) youth wing president Abhishek Banerjee had to fill in for his aunt, chief minister Mamata Banerjee, and address a rally for local candidate Nabin Chandra Bag.

With the chief minister barred by the EC from campaigning and busy in a protest in Kolkata, the youth TMC leader flew in a helicopter an hour before Nadda.

The same scene was seen at his rally. “We do not wear masks. Those are for city people,” said Rabiul Sheikh, a septuagenarian who had come with 50-odd people from his village in a mini truck.

To see how voters in the interior villages were behaving, HT on Tuesday morning visited Ghurisha village which is part of the Bolpur assembly seat in Birbhum district.

At a small roadshow in support of TMC candidate and minister Chandranath Sinha, people could be found dancing to the beat of recorded numbers being played over loudspeakers from e-rickshaws that also carried men, women and even school children.

“This is how campaign takes place in these parts,” said Rahim Sheikh, a villager.

Sinha said a large turnout at rallies and roadshows was a cause for concern.

“I am taking only a few aides during the campaign. I am telling people not to come out in such large numbers. But nobody seems to be listening. This is an extremely difficult situation” Sinha told HT.

Admitting that people were violating safety protocols at all rallies, Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, “We are formally announcing at our political programmes that everybody must wear a mask but people need to be conscious.”

The West Bengal Doctors Forum (WBDF), a popular organization that has been working among patients and health workers since the first Covid-19 outbreak a year ago, wrote to the EC on April 7 on this issue and expressed deep concern.

“…the second wave of Covid-19 is sweeping various parts of the country and cases in West Bengal have gone up tenfold in the last one month. The medical fraternity is extremely perturbed,” the WBDF wrote to the EC. The letter was marked to the state government as well.

Dr Koushik Chaki, a member of the forum, said, “We have potential super spreaders all around us, be it political rallies in the districts or rush at markets in Kolkata before the Bengali new year. Hospitals in Bengal are running out of beds. Alarming is an understatement.”