BENGALURU: Electioneering has reached a fever pitch at Sira and RR Nagar Assembly constituencies, with roadshows, election rallies and door-to-door campaigning by leaders of three major parties, the BJP, Congress and JDS. But none of these leaders seem to worry about Covid and have failed to observe the norms required to keep the pandemic under control. The first guideline that has gone out of the window is social distancing as poll rallies have seen thousands of people jostling for space.
Experts warned that such rallies could turn into superspreaders and the effect would be known in another 15 days when Covid starts surfacing unless the administration takes steps to break the chain. Ruling party leaders, including BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, DyCMs Dr CN Ashwath Narayana and Laxman Savadi, party state vice-president B Y Vijayendra, MP G S Basavraju, BJP National Yuva Morcha president Tejasvi Surya, ministers R Ashok, J C Madhuswamy and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar have all addressed massive rallies. The presence of Dr Sudhakar in such outings is stark as he is heading the state’s fight against the pandemic.
From the Congress, Opposition Leader Siddaramaiah, KPCC president D K Shivakumar, former DyCM Dr G Parameshwar, former minister and candidate from Sira T B Jayachandra, MP D K Suresh, former MP Muddahanume Gowda and others too have been addressing poll events attended by large crowds.JDS leaders former PM H D Deve Gowda and former CM H D Kumaraswamy too have ignored such norms, despite their Sira Assembly bypoll candidate, Ammajamma, recovering from Covid only recently.
Election Commission of India, Karnataka CEO, Sanjiv Kumar, told TNIE, “We are holding a meeting tomorrow (Saturday), where I will ask my officers to tighten the Covid safety measures. The government should also book cases against those responsible.’’ Dr Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman, Manipal Hospitals, said, “We saw a spike in new infections in Kerala during the recent Onam celebrations. Considering the elections and the festive season, I request all the citizens, our leaders and party workers to follow Covid protocols and to avoid large gatherings to maintain social distancing, till the real vaccine is available.’’
Quite ironically, many of these leaders, who have been responsible for violations, are quick to point a finger at Kerala for its post-Onam outbreak.Health experts warned that it is the festival season, and if people don’t follow the guidelines, the pandemic could spiral out of control. They wondered why these leaders have not been booked yet.