Paradox In Politics! Elections Or Health; Politicians Always Choose The Former

Delhi Chief Minister has finally isolated himself at his residence for mild symptoms of COVID-19. The CM contracted the virus after addressing massive rallies in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand poll-bound in the last three days. The Aam Aadmi Party Chief has been on a whirlwind of campaigns for a while now, and he had addressed campaigns in Dehradun, Amritsar and Patiala in the last few days. At the same time, the country is experiencing yet another spike in the number of COVID cases. The national capital has reported rising positivity, with over 4,000 cases in the last 24 hours.

Experts presume the sudden spike is the onset of the third wave globally. Nonetheless, come what may, Indian politicians have vowed to stick to one religion, that of politics. Thus, public health, safety, and COVID curbs are going for a toss. The growth rate of positive cases is accelerating as the election rallies continue to occur. When the global health watchdog, World Health Organization (WHO), declared COVID-19 as a pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that 21 days of lockdown would be enough to 'win the war' against the pandemic.

Stakes Are High For Politicians To Make Mistakes

The severe second wave gave enough evidence that the cases would fall and rise again if precautionary curbs were let loose. However, there is no stopping the Indian politicians who change the rules at their convenience. The country might have already fought two deadly waves of the virus, but the understanding of how the virus spreads amongst the public seems to be lacking. While one can understand that politicians are not perfect anywhere, and like all humans, they are bound to make mistakes. However, they must realize that the stakes are too high for them, and they cannot keep repeating their mistakes repeatedly.

The alarming surge in the COVID-19 could be attributed to the reckless behaviour of the national leaders and poll-bound states. Previously, Prime Minister Modi had led massive rallies during the Kumbh Mela and West Bengal elections. Currently, one can recognize a similar trend with the PM visiting Uttar Pradesh and the northeastern states as the polls are inching closer. The saddest part of the entire string of events is that politicians are endorsing that the new variants are not as severe.

Previous Instances Of Indifference

On March 7, 2021, when the caseload had slowly begun its upward trend, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said that the country was doing just fine. What followed was a gut-wrenching scenario of despair, death and uncertainty. There is no doubt that the health minister's victory declaration was too early for the country. The leaders ignored the global trend in which almost all countries in which COVID had wreaked havoc had already witnessed their second wave. As the West is already reeling under health crisis again, India seems to be following the trend.

When the oxygen demand started rising with the Delta variant infecting young and old alike, Union Minister voiced his thoughts and said that the state governments were to blame since they could not keep the demand for oxygen under control. As reported by ANI, Goyal said, "State governments should keep demand (for medical oxygen) under control. The demand-side management is as important as supply-side management. Containing COVID-19 spread is the responsibility of state governments, and they should fulfil this responsibility". To further substantiate his statement, Goyal had mentioned that he had received complaints of oxygen overuse and wastage.

During the second wave, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed crowds of hundreds of people in West Bengal ahead of the state elections. Many people in the crowd could be seen unmasked, and the social distancing was entirely out of the question. Nonetheless, the Prime Minister said that he had never seen such a massive crowd in rallies.

In the moment of excitement, one can assume that India's most important decision-maker forgot the paramount importance of avoiding one thing, crowding! He had mentioned that 'wherever I look, I see people, only people'; however, he missed to address that he also saw unmasked people.

While the health situation was aggravating at a horrific pace, state leaders ensured the citizens that the pandemic had ended. BJP's heavyweight in the northeast and the Chief Minister of Assam said, "There is no Covid in Assam… there is no need to wear a face mask now in Assam… If there is a need, I will inform the people". The CM stood by his statement and explained to his critics that Assam had done a remarkable job to contain the virus; therefore, no masks were needed in the state.

In a rather amusing statement, a BJP MLA had said that the virus does not affect 'hard-working BJP workers'. Govind Patel had said, "Those who work, do labour work, remain unaffected by the corona(virus). Workers of the BJP have done work, have done labour work, and none of them has been infected".

Recently, Modi's right hand in Uttar Pradesh and state's CM Yogi Adityanath said that the Omicron variant is a very mild disease, and there was no need to panic. At the same time, India's Covid tally rose to 3,49,60,261 with 37,379 new cases, while the active cases increased to 1,71,830, according to the data updated at 8 am on Tuesday.

Battling Against COVID-19

In the first wave of COVID-19, India was new and did not understand how to handle the situation, yet precautionary measures helped contain the virus. The second wave was yet another chance to test the pragmatic approach of the political leaders. However, failing health infrastructure, rising death tolls and increasing demand for oxygen put the country under tremendous pressure. Since the cases are rising for the third time, and the politicians are indifferent to the emergency.

States are imposing curbs and night curfews, yet poll-bound states are increasingly witnessing political campaigns, thus effectively bringing the public to the vulnerable forefront of the battlefield against the virus. Maybe, it is high time that we introspect and save ourselves because the politicians are too busy prioritizing their votes over the safety of their citizens.

Also Read: Highlight Of PM's North-East Visit: Tripura Gets State-Of-The-Art Airport Terminal