Until a few days ago, Covid-19 was not an issue during election rallies in West Bengal. However, as cases rose, amid a fierce campaigning battle, the pandemic made an entry into the political discourse.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took up the issue of the severe surge in Covid-19 cases and made it central to her rallies after the Bharatiya Janata Party, based on an unauthenticated leaked phone call, accused the TMC of instigating “violence” in Sitalkuchi killings amid other allegations of cut money and corruption.
As the second wave of Covid-19 began to rage in Bengal and across the country, CM Banerjee hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union government for “mismanagement” and “incompetence”.
Banerjee has accused the Modi government of “not doing enough”. In a letter to PM Modi, she mentioned that she had asked the Centre to give the states more freedom with matters of vaccination and critical drugs.