The Allahabad High Court has made a passionate plea to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to postpone elections in view of rising cases of the Omicron variant in India.
The high court lauded Modi for his efforts to vaccinate Indians. The Bench of Justice Justice Shekhar Yadav also urged the Election Commission of India to stop political parties from organising election rallies.
Singling out Modi for praise, the high court judge said, “The free corona vaccination campaign started by our country’s honourable prime minister in a vast country like India is commendable and the court praises it and urges the honourable prime minister to take effective steps in view of the horrible pandemic to consider postponing and cancelling the election because the hope will exist only when you’re alive.”
"(The Court) requests the Honorable Prime Minister to take strict steps in view of the situation of this dreadful epidemic and requests him to postpone rallies, meetings, and upcoming elections because ???????????????????? ????????????????????'???? ????????????????, ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????" @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/Y7fDHBQNX5
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) December 23, 2021
Uttar Pradesh goes to polls early next year with Modi and his party leaders already kickstarting a full-blown election campaign seeking Yogi Adityanath’s re-election as the state’s chief minister. Other political parties too have begun addressing huge election rallies in the state.
Uttar Pradesh was one of the worst-hit Indian states during the second wave of the pandemic with lakhs of people losing their lives. The Adityanath government was exposed as hundreds of thousands of people died in the absence of a decent healthcare system. Hundreds of bodies were seen floating in the river Ganga. Faced with embarrassment, those bodies were buried on the river banks in a hurry.
The Hindu festival, Kumbh Mela, held in Uttar Pradesh’s neighbouring state Uttarakhand was widely blamed for acting as a superspreader. More than 10 million had gathered in Haridwar during the Kumbh Mela. Panchayat elections held just before the second wave of the pandemic too was blamed for the spread of the virus. Hundreds of teachers on election duty had lost their lives in the state.