KOLKATA: The chief health officer of the Trinamool Congress-led Kolkata Municipal Corporation in a recent advisory said institutional quarantine and safe home services may be reopened in the municipality after September 30—the day when the high-decibel by-election is scheduled to be held in south Kolkata’s Bhowanipore.
“Institutional quarantine and Safe Home services may be reopened if required (but after 30.09.2021 after Bhowanipore Assembly Election) to contain Covid situation in Kolkata during and after Durga and Kali pujas,” reads the advisory. It comes amid a rise in Covid cases in the West Bengal capital.
The Covid advisory mentioning the bypoll date has made some TMC leaders uneasy. They feel the BJP may now capitalise on this and demand that the election, which Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee must win to continue as CM, be put off.
“The BJP was against the by-election citing the pandemic. But, she needs to get elected as an MLA within November 5 to continue as CM, and if the by-election is deferred, she will have no option but to step down from the post of state CM,” said a senior TMC leader.
“No one knows what will be the pandemic situation a week from now. How can we set up a time frame for opening quarantine centres and safe home facilities?” asked an official of the state health department. The advisory did not miss the BJP’s attention. The party’s Bengal chapter said it shows the state government is trying to distort the true picture.
“If quarantine centres and safe homes are reopened before the bypoll, the question of conducting the election amid the pandemic may be raised. This why the advisory clearly mentioned the facilities can be reopened after the by-election,’’ said a BJP leader.