Akhilesh Yadav had canceled another rally in western UP last month (File)
New Delhi:
The Vijay Rath Yatra of the Samajwadi party in Ayodhya, scheduled for January 9, has been canceled as the number of Covid cases continues to rise, fueled by the Omicron variant. Party leader Akhilesh Yadav has also canceled his other meetings in Gonda and Basti in Uttar Pradesh on January 7-8.
In the run-up to the elections from February to March, political parties are campaigning aggressively in the state.
Last month, Akhilesh Yadav had canceled another rally in western UP, saying he would be away from public events for three days after his wife and daughter tested positive.
Mr Yadav shared his Covid negative report on Twitter, saying he made the decision as a precaution as his family members were infected.
On Wednesday, Congress had written to the Election Commission asking it to “cancel major rallies (in the state) in view of an expected third wave of Covid cases”. Congress has postponed all of its poll-bound state events due to the recent surge in cases believed to be caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant. India reported 58,097 cases in 24 hours on Wednesday — the sixth daily increase in the past nine days.
“Congress has decided to postpone large gatherings in UP and other states tied to elections. We have asked state units to assess the COVID-19 situation in their states and then make a decision on holding meetings,” the party’s secretary general KC Venugopal was quoted as saying by ANI news agency.
Meanwhile, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has also canceled a government post in the state’s Gautam Buddh Nagar district scheduled for today. While no official reason was given, the district has reported the highest number of Covid cases from the state in the past week. The cancellation followed shocking scenes from UP’s Bareilly district on Tuesday, where hundreds of women and teenage girls sat without masks at a party event that nearly turned into a near-stormy situation.
Allahabad’s Supreme Court last month asked the Election Commission to postpone the UP polls, if only for a few months. However, after meeting officials from the Ministry of Health, the Commission said the polls will be conducted as planned.
Some preventive measures were announced – including extending voting hours and increasing the number of polling booths – but the Commission balked at immediately cracking down on political rallies attended by tens of thousands where social distancing was not observed.
UP reported 989 new cases in 24 hours on Wednesday, 23 of which were from the Omicron strain. Overall, the state’s active Covid caseload is 3,173 – 31 are Omicron infections.
