Modi faces ire over running election campaign in W Bengal

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi for continuing to campaign in the West Bengal Assembly polls despite the surge in COVID-19 cases, alleging that he is demonstrating his role as a “partisan party campaigner” and not that of the country’s PM, India media reported on Sunday.

“As we Indians suffer under a raging pandemic, we unfortunately don’t have a Union government. What we have is a PR company, with an electoral campaigner, callously and brazenly unleashing pain, misery and devastation over the masses.

“Modi demonstrating his role as a partisan party campaigner is more important than that of India’s Prime Minister. That’s why his priority is the election campaign, if any time is left, he does something perfunctory for TV images & headlines. A sorry state,” CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a series of tweets.

“India is facing its gravest crisis in decades which a former Army chief says is like war. But Modi is busy campaigning, unavailable to State CMs and doing a gimmick of a meeting after he has finished with his superspreader events,” he tweeted. The Left leader mentioned that his party had earlier announced that it would not hold large public rallies in the poll-bound West Bengal. “The Congress too has announced it. But this BJP leader, who is also the Home Minister, spouts ridiculous, unscientific nonsense about COVID-19. Are his and Modi’s rallies more important than Indian lives?” he asked on Twitter.

A record single-day rise of 2,61,500 infections have taken India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,47,88,109, while active cases have surpassed the 18 lakh-mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on April 18.

The death toll due to the disease increased to 1,77,150 in the country with record 1,501 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed.

Mr Yechury also questioned Mr. Modi over his remarks on Saturday that India “defeated COVID-19 last year”.

“Really? Why are we in this tragic situation? You still have no plan, no strategy to stop sending people to death. Stop mass congregations & your megalomaniac election rallies. Release your private trust fund for people’s health,” he added.