TNW, Patna, July 19: More and more Bihar politicians, an overwhelming number of them associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) and Janata Dal United (JDU) are falling victim to Corona Virus, uncertainty looms large not only over the dates of election but over the poll prospect of the National Democratic Alliance.
The NDA leaders have reason to feel jittery as they are under intense pressure from outside and within. While the opposition parties led by Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav are constantly attacking the Nitish Kumar government for what they alleged complete failure in fighting the COVID-19 and asking the Election Commission to postponed the Assembly poll scheduled in coming October-November, the NDA rank and file are feeling dejected as an overwhelming number of the top leaders are suffering from the pandemic.
This includes state BJP president, Sanjay Jaiswal, the party MP from Patliputra and former Union minister Ram Kripal Yadav, several legislators and party office-bearers etc. The state JDU spokesman Dr Ajay Alok and the chairman of the Bihar Legislative Council Awadesh Narayan Singh, and others are also among them.
The BJP and JDU workers and their family members are upset over the way they were asked to start election related work in the field notwithstanding the surge in cases of Corona Viru in Bihar. The case is more alarming in the BJP camp as the lower level workers were pressed into service days before the June 7 virtual rally of Union home minister Amit Shah.
They were asked to install LED screens in almost all the 73,000 booths across the state. Besides, the saffron party had been holding election related meeting almost every day in the air-conditioned office in Patna. Experts have already warned that Corona Virus spread much faster in air-conditioned atmosphere, yet the politicians and bureaucrats are not taking care of this aspect.
That is why disproportionately high percentage of them are reporting Corona cases.The problem with the BJP, and to some extent JDU, is that their war machine has been badly paralysed ahead of the election. Not only a large number of party leaders been affected by the pandemic, they are spreading Corona Virus among the family members and in the vicinity of their homes.
People are now questioning the double standards of the BJP and JDU. Why were the holding regular meetings when poor daily wage earners, shopkeepers rickshaw wallahs and common folks not allowed to even step out of home. There are innumerable stories of cases in which police assaulted the people and imposed fines on them.
On the other hand the ruling party leaders and workers were allowed to openly violate all the norms and rules. As the common people are now squarely blaming the ruling alliance leaders for the sudden spread in COVID-19 it gave the opposition a golden opportunity to put up pressure.
Their leaders are now charging that the the BJP and JDU leaders are more interested in election and not in saving the lives of the people.Curiously, the Lok Janshakti Party, one of the constituents of the NDA, is among those accusing the BJP and JDU for callous neglect of the people of Bihar.
