Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising the “worrying” issue on Coronavirus inoculations ahead of the upcoming elections. While lauding the COVID-19 vaccination that the government has initiated in the “right earnest”, West Bengal CM said that people would be “forced” to go to polling stations without any vaccination coverage. Hence, Banerjee proposed to reach out to the voters with a “rapid vaccination programme immediately” to ensure the health and well-being of all who are involved in the election process. In order to do so, the West Bengal government is seeking “an adequate number of vaccines” for the public at large.
Mamata Banerjee writes, “The worrying point is that, in the ensuing elections, the people in general will be forced to go to the polling stations without any vaccination coverage. We feel that it is equally important to reach out to them with a rapid vaccination programme immediately for the interest of health and well-being of all concerned with the election process.”
“Under the circumstances, the Government of West Bengal has decided to procure adequate number of vaccines for the members of the public at large. We would request you to kindly take up the matter with appropriate authority so that State Government is able to purchase the vaccines from designated point(s) on top priority basis because the West Bengal Government wants to provide vaccination free of cost to all the people,” she added.
West Bengal Chief Minister’s letter about COVID-19 vaccines to PM Modi came just as the Election Commission of India on Wednesday will hold a key meeting to finalise the schedule for Assembly polls in four states and one in Union Territory in 2021. These four states include West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala while Puducherry is the only UT. This meeting will be chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, who along with other top officials will discuss the deployment of the central forces in the respective districts.
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2nd vaccination drive from March 1
While the government also announced on Wednesday that the second drive for COVID-19 vaccination will begin from March 1 under which, people above the age of 60 will be inoculated. People above the age of 45 with pre-existing medical conditions will also be included. As per reports, the election to the 294-member West Bengal assembly is due in April-May, 2021. The Election Commission will be following the Bihar model that was taken up in the assembly polls last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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