Rahul Gandhi Cancels Poll Rallies in Bengal, Urges All Parties to Follow Suit in Wake of Covid-19 Surge

In the wake of the rapud spread of the Covid-19 infection in the second wave of the pandemic, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday cancelled all his public rallies in poll-bound West Bengal.

He also advised all other politicians to think about the consequences of holding large public rallies. “In view of the Covid situation, I am suspending all my public rallies in West Bengal. I would advise all political leaders to think deeply about the consequences of holding large public rallies under the current circumstances,” he said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, senior Trinamool Congress leader and the candidate for Bhawanipur constituency, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, called off his election rally in the face of the second wave of Covid-19 infection.

The Congress has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for holding political rallies amid the rise in coronavirus cases in the country.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has accused the prime minister of shocking callousness for holding big political rallies in poll-bound Bengal amid the rise in COVID-19 cases. He said the prime minister should be at his job, sitting at his desk and coordinating with chief ministers in handling the COVID pandemic.