Uttar Pradesh: With Omicron spreading fast and the threat of the Third Wave of COVID-19 looming large in India, Congress has put all its election rallies and other big events in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on hold.
The party's move comes a day after it was strongly criticized for the marathon in UP's Bareilly, as the race organized to highlight 'girl power' turned into a stampede-like situation.
On Wednesday, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal informed, "Congress has decided to postpone major rallies in UP. We have asked our state units which are poll-bound to assess the COVID-19 situation in their states and then take a decision on holding rallies."
When asked about the matter, Punjab Campaign Committee Chairman Sunil Jakhar said, "Decision will be taken after assessing the ground situation in Punjab but Congress is never of the view of conducting any rally by putting someone's life in danger."
Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Goa are going to the polls in the coming months. Unlike in UP, Congress is strong in the rest of the states. It is the opposition party in three of them and the ruling party in one.
It is noteworthy that, earlier, UP Congress had also written to Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra to "cancel big rallies in view of the anticipated third Covid wave". The state unit had suggested that ECI should motivate political parties to conduct street plays, chaupal, virtual meetings to curb COVID-19 spread among the people.
READ: Watch: Stampede like scenes during Congress marathon in UP's Bareilly
Experts have often mentioned political rallies as the huge reason behind the second wave hitting Indians badly.
Will Congress' decision help gain some goodwill with people ahead of the elections or backfire? That remains to be seen.
