Prime Minister Narendra Modi today cancelled his visit to Bengal on Friday to campaign for the ongoing state election citing meetings to review the Covid situation in the country. Home Minister Amit Shah also cut short his campaign today, cancelling two of his three Bengal meetings to return to Delhi for a Covid meeting. According to the BJP, all its top leaders have called off the rest of their campaign.
“Tomorrow, will be chairing high-level meetings to review the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Due to that, I would not be going to West Bengal,” PM Modi tweeted, effectively ending his campaign in Bengal, which will vote in three more rounds before the election results on May 2.
Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had announced that he called off all the rallies that were scheduled in the state as cases continue to rise at an unprecedented pace. He had also urged other political leaders to consider the same.
“In view of the Covid situation, I am suspending all my public rallies in West Bengal. I would advise all political leaders to think deeply about the consequences of holding large public rallies under the current circumstances,” he had said in a tweet.
PM Modi’s schedule includes an internal review meeting over the Covid-19 related situation in the country at 9am, followed by an interaction with chief ministers of “high-burden” states at 10am. At 12:30pm, he will hold a virtual conference with leading oxygen manufacturers in the country.
