Sense finally prevails: UP parties call off poll rallies amid Covid surge

Even when the virus situation was growing grim, parties had gone about organising huge poll rallies.

The Covid-19 surge has been on, and it looked like election rallies and meeting were more important to political parties in Uttar Pradesh. The parties which had been ignoring the surge went about organising huge rallies in their bid to assume power in the state.

But with the virus spread threatening to go out of hand, sense seems to have prevailed over politics. Better late than never is the theme here as political outfits are fast cancelling or postponing the already scheduled rallies in the state. 

The Congress, which has been looking to make inroads into UP after the drubbing it was handed over by voters during the last Assembly elections, had scheduled a slew of massive rallies to get back its vote share. Holding aloft women’s welfare, the party had organised women’s marathons with the title ‘Ladki Hun Lad Sakti Hun’ across Uttar Pradesh.

Poll rallies or super spreaders?

The marathons were planned to be taken out in places such as Noida, Varanasi and other districts. However, with Covid surge being reported, the UP Congress unit has now decided to call off the proposed rallies owing to the virus spread and to prevent further surge.

One of the ‘Ladki Hun Lad Sakti Hun’ campaigns taken it had ended in a nightmare with participants, who didn’t even care to wear face masks, toppling over and leaving many hurt. This caused a lot of embarrassment to the Congress and the calling off of any more such conclaves would help the party forget the embarrassment.

The UP Congress Committee, in view of anticipated third Covid-19 wave, has also urged Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra to step in and cancel big rallies. The party is also taking its ‘no rallies’ decision to other poll-bound states too. The party brass has already send out messages to state units to monitor the Covid-19 situation and take a decision on holding rallies.

It isn’t just the Congress that is calling of rallies in UP. Chief Minister and BJP strong man Yogi Adityanath has also, finally, taken the coronavirus situation seriously and cancelled his rally in Noida.

Virus situation in UP grim

Samajwadi Party chief and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has also taken the same route in view of the surging virus. He has called off his poll rallies in Gonda and Basti, which were scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

The virus situation in UP is grim, and the numbers are up every passing day. With poll rallies threatening a spike in infections, all parties were expected to slow down days ago. However, they had not done that and that had become a matter of concern for the general public.

The state government has already ordered shutting schools up to Class 10 till January 15. The night curfew has also been extended by two hours. More restrictions are on the way.

With parties deciding to call of massive rallies, it is expected the Covid numbers can be checked. After all, it is the general public’s health that should be the prime concern. Showing off of party strengths can come later.