In the month of April this year, there has been an unprecedented upsurge in daily new cases and daily new deaths in the country due to Covid-19. States, which reported large increases in daily new cases and daily new deaths, are Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, to name but a few. Data accessed from https://www.covid19india.org/, which is a crowdsourced platform and an independent aggregator of daily Covid-19 figures and...
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Local factors determine electoral outcomes in States -Suhas Palshikar, Sanjay Kumar, Shreyas Sardesai and Sandeep Shastri
-The Hindu While national leaders can provide support, the ground work needs to be done by local leaders with a mass base and sustained presence in local politics Even as the nation battles the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Assembly elections have been completed in four States (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal) and one Union Territory (Puducherry). Though citizens and governments came to be exposed to the debilitating impact...
More »Too little: On the Election Commission’s COVID-19 curbs
-The Hindu The ECI woke up late to the ill-effects the long campaign in Bengal had on public health The Election Commission of India’s decision to restrict campaigning for the remaining two phases of the West Bengal Assembly election is an instance of wisdom dawning late. Nevertheless, it will help limit the public health damage to what was already caused by an unreasonably extended election cycle in the State during the pandemic....
More »Bengal polls: EC bans physical campaigning, expresses ‘anguish’ over flouting of Covid norms
-The Indian Express The Election Commission order, however, continues to permit gatherings of up to 500 people in West Bengal. The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday banned roadshows, vehicle rallies, and public meetings of more than 500 people in West Bengal, noting that political parties and candidates were “still not adhering to the prescribed safety norms” during campaigning. Permissions already given for such events stood withdrawn, the Commission said. The directive came hours after...
More »The second wave questions that need urgent answers -Kaushik Das Gupta
-The Indian Express Is the government postponing the use of the Rs 35,000-crore allocated for vaccine development in the current Budget? Has it been shy in using its good offices with the US to intercede on behalf of the country’s vaccine manufacturing companies? This time, last year, India was under a lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised address during which he issued several messages of caution. He talked...
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