COVID-19: Rahul Gandhi Cancels All Rallies in West Bengal

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a public meeting for Assembly polls, at Goalpokhar in Uttar Dinajpur district.

(Photo: PTI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, 18 April, announced that he will be suspending all his political rallies in West Bengal because of the rise in COVID-19 cases in the state and the country.

“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,” Gandhi said on Twitter.

West Bengal still has three phases of the polls due. Meanwhile, since the elections have begun in the state, the COVID cases have shot up 22 times.

Other Rallies in West Bengal Today

• Home Minister Amit Shah held a public rally in Purbusthali, West Bengal.
• Shah around 1:30 pm , held a road show in Nadia district, ahead of 6th phase of assembly elections.
• Amit Shah also addressed a public meeting in Swarupnagar, West Bengal and it is expected that the home minister will hold a road show in Habra.
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a roadshow from Dhakuria Bridge to Kaalighat crossing in Kolkata.

India reported staggering 2,61,500 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike ever, pushing the country’s overall Covid tally to 1,47,88,109, according to the Health Ministry data released on Sunday.

This is the fourth consecutive day that the country has registered over 2 lakh COVID-19 cases. India recorded 2,34,92 cases were reported on Saturday, 2,00,739 and 2,17,353 cases on Thursday and Friday respectively.

Meanwhile, as many as 1,501 people died of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the country's death toll to 1,77,150 so far. The daily active cases tally rose to 18,01316.