Published 21:18 IST, July 10th 2020
'Postpone Bihar polls till parties are allowed to hold rallies': Tejashwi Yadav
RJD leader and leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav has demanded to postpone Bihar polls till the spread of coronavirus is curbed.
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RJD leader and leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav has demanded to postpone Bihar polls till the spread of coronavirus is curbed. Tejashwi also demanded that election should be held when parties are allowed to hold rallies and expressed his apprehension at the virtual campaigning, which is not a fair ground for political parties that are financially weak and not abreast with the technology.
In a press statement, Tejaswi said, "In my opinion, now is not the appropriate time to conduct elections considering the alarming spread of this disease. I will be the last person to have an election on dead bodies. If Nitish Kumar acknowledges that COVID is still a crisis, elections can be postponed until the situation improves but if he thinks COVID is not a problem, elections must be conducted with traditional means of electioneering. Let there be a fairground for all political parties, rallies, door-to-door and full-fledged campaigns be allowed."
'Abject failure of Nitish government'
Tejashwi also attacked the Bihar government for its failure to provide basic medical care to the patients. He further added, "The abject failure of the Nitish government in handling this pandemic and migrants issues has led to chaos and insecurity among people. There seems to be no containment and mitigation strategy in place. An exponential surge in new cases is worrying. This COVID crisis has exposed the misdemeanors of the Nitish government inside out. Bihar is the worst hit and health experts fear countless deaths in the state primarily because of abysmally low testing and dilapidated medical infrastructure. Bihar is sitting on the tip of iceberg today which is worsening day-by-day and in the coming months, thousands of people may die because of lackadaisical approach and lack of medical care."
The election commission had recently convened an all-party meeting seeking suggestions to conduct Bihar polls. All the parties suggested holding the polls. Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey said, "Why didn't Tejashwi Yadav and his party oppose to hold Bihar polls when the election commission had sought suggestions in the all-party meet. They are just politicizing it. The people of Bihar have understood them, that's why he is scared of facing polls."
With the sharp increase in the number of positive cases, the Bihar government has enforced lockdown in 11 districts for seven days from July 10. Bihar assembly polls are slated to be held in October /November and the new house has to be convened by November 29, 2020. So far, 14,330 positive cases have been reported in Bihar, out of which 10,251 have recovered, and there 3967 active cases. The recovery rate is 71.54%. There are 48 testing centers functional across all 38 districts of Bihar.
(Image credits: PTI)
21:18 IST, July 10th 2020