oppn parties West Bengal: Sitting On A Covid Bomb?

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  • 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
oppn parties
West Bengal: Sitting On A Covid Bomb?

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-04-26 04:16:59

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

The perils of holding an eight-phase election in the midst of a second wave of coronavirus and complete administrative apathy, especially in Kolkata, the largest urban conglomeration in the state, has meant that West Bengal now stares at a positivity rate which is the highest in the country. A report in the Times of India quotes figures from Covid testing labs in Kolkata to show that the positivity rate in the city is as high as 55% while in West Bengal, it hovers around 26%. The report said that out of 55060 samples tested in West Bengal on April 23, 14281 persons, or 25.9% tested positive.

These are alarming figures. As per experts, these are very low figures due to the low testing being conducted in the state because of the election process. The actual figures, if testing was done at earlier rate, would be much higher. This is cause for huge concern.

The EC, despite several requests from Mamata Banerjee , refused to club the last three phases to reduce exposure and release government staff from poll duty to take up health related work. Also, all parties decided not to hold super spreader rallies too late in the day when most of the damage was already done.

Then, despite it being known from mid-February that a second wave was hitting India nothing was done to enforce Covid rules strictly. All public places in Kolkata still allowed entry of visitors without any screening. No random tests were conducted at busy marketplaces. Periodic drives to enforce the mask rule that were conducted were not enough. People were allowed in public transport without masks. Mamata Banerjee rightly blamed the EC and PM Modi for spreading coronavirus in Bengal. But her administration has to share a lion’s portion of the blame for not enforcing the rules.

It is going to be very difficult for new government to tackle the surge in cases that are going to be reported after the elections are over and testing resumes in real earnest. Mamata Banerjee has already said that she does not believe in local or weekend lockdowns. If she returns as chief minister, she will have to start the process of micro containment zones to curb the spread and see that people follow Covid protocols strictly. There is no other way, apart from lockdown, to slow or stop the spread. 

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