oppn parties West Bengal BJP Chief: Trivializing The Coronavirus Threat For Political Gain

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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West Bengal BJP Chief: Trivializing The Coronavirus Threat For Political Gain

By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2020-09-15 19:25:22

It is amazing how the BJP has an army of leaders all over India who are given to put their foot in their mouth and embarrass the party. Let alone the incendiary remarks (Go to Pakistan) which are vile enough to inflame passions, these people also make horrible statements that are not backed by facts and are unscientific. The latest in the line is West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh. Addressing a well-attended rally in Hooghly district of the state , Ghosh said that "corona has left" and Didi (Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) was imposing lockdowns in the state only to prevent the BJP from holding rallies ahead of the state elections next year.

When the country is witnessing a spurt in new coronavirus cases which are now hovering around the one lakh mark and the death toll is more than 1000 every day, when the state is witnessing 3000 new cases and nearly 50 deaths every day and when the Prime Minister says that people should not let down the guard till a remedy is found (jab tak dawai nahi, tab tak dhilai nahi), people like Ghosh are making statements that even a school child knows are not true. Apart from proving his own lack of knowledge, Ghosh has proved nothing by making such a stupid statement.

Whatever the political compulsions be, whatever the need be of painting the Chief Minister and the TMC as anti-Hindus, any statement that makes light of the threat posed by the pandemic is downright anti-national. When the need is for politicians of all hue to stand together and impress upon the people to follow all health protocols as the threat has not gone away, Ghosh has tried to trivialize the issue for cheap political gain.

It is not known if the party has taken him to task for making such a gross claim. But it is very surprising that before making the claim, Ghosh did not think about how he was undermining Prime Minister Modi's untiring efforts of warning the people not to lower their guards. The party high command should issue a stern warning to him to steer clear of making such statements. Only God can help the BJP if it wants to displace the TMC in the elections next year with a person like Dilip Ghosh at the helm.