Rakesh Tikait vows to continue farmers' protest; says ask donation for hospital not temple

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait vowed to continue the onging farmers' protests even as COVID cases surged at an unprecedented rate throughout India and said that they "were not going anywhere until their demands were fullfilled". As the farmers' protests entered the fifth month, Rakesh Tikait claimed that there was no relation between their agitation and COVID and claimed that there were more people attending PM Modi's rally than participating in the protests. The farmer leader blamed the Centre for shortage of oxygen & medicines and claimed that hospitals should be given priority over temples. Taking an apparent jibe at the Ram Madir donation drive, Rakesh Tikait claimed that contributions should be asked in the name of hosipals and not temples. 

Earlier, Rakesh Tikait had said that the Centre would be held accountable if COVID cases crop up among the farmers who have been protesting at the borders of Delhi even as the national capital goes under lockdown due to virus surge. Rakesh Tikait had asserted that COVID cannot be sought as an excuse to put a hold on the farmers' protest. Speaking with Republic Media Network, Rakesh Tikait had said, "Responsibility will be of the government (if protesting farmers get infected). When the COVID-19 cases are rising across the country, who is responsible for it? Are farmers responsible for that too?"

Delhi records 350 COVID deaths in 24 hours

Delhi recorded 350 COVID-19 deaths and 22,933 cases with a positivity rate of 30.21 percent on Sunday, even as hospitals across the city continued to send out SOS calls for oxygen supply. This is the fourth day on the trot that Delhi has recorded over 300 deaths due to coronavirus. It had reported 357 fatalities, the highest so far since the pandemic began a year ago, on Saturday, 348 on Friday and 306 on Thursday, according to government data.

The city had recorded 24,103 cases on Saturday, 24,331 on Friday, 26,169 on Thursday, and 24,638 on Wednesday. The positivity rate was 32.27 per cent on Saturday, 32.43 on Friday, 36.24 on Thursday -- the highest so far -- 31.28 on Wednesday and 32.82 on Tuesday. The capital has registered over 2.24 lakh cases and 2,455 deaths due to the deadly disease in the last 10 days. With the fresh cases reported Sunday, the national capital's cumulative COVID-19 tally has climbed to 10,27,715 and the death toll due to the disease stands at 14,248, the health bulletin said.