There are two Gujarats: one that sees a rapid rise in Covid cases and the other, more powerful, doesn’t want to see it. When the State reported over 100% increase in Covid-19 cases from 204 on Monday to 548 on Wednesday, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was in Surat speaking at the Vibrant Gujarat Pre-Event Summit “Weaving Growth For Textiles.” Gujarat BJP President CR Paatil also attended the event, which had over 500 entrepreneurs.
And on December 28, he was at the Anjanshalaka Pratishtha Mahotsav organised by Rajchandra Mission in Dharampur in Valsad district. This event was attended by over 1,000 attendees.
On Thursday, when Gujarat reported 573 new Covid-19 cases, the Chief Minister presided over a cultural festival organised by the State Government as part of Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav celebrations at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad.
Besides Gujarat BJP President CR Paatil, state ministers Purnesh Modi, Pradip Parmar, Harsh Sanghavi and Jagdish Panchal and Ahmedabad Mayor Kirit Parmar were present on the occasion. As many as 75 cultural programmes were organised across all the 33 districts in the State.
These are not isolated public gatherings. The Gujarat Government has been organising its “Sushashan (good governance) festival” events regularly, besides various functions as a run up to the Vibrant Gujarat Investors Summit.
Similarly, Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat was at the inauguration ceremony of the Natural Agriculture Training Workshop held in Vadtal. This was a gathering of over 500 people with zero social distancing. Or former Gujarat minister Saurabh Patel organised a cricket tournament in Vadodara earlier in the week.
If on Monday, Gujarat reported 204 cases, the number was 394 on Tuesday, 548 on Wednesday and 573 on Thursday. With the jump of 39% between Monday and Tuesday, Gujarat recorded the highest tally in 203 days.
The State added 24% active cases in a day, which was the second highest in the nation, whereas Bihar recorded the highest of 25% active cases to the national data. Maharashtra had 1052 cases and Gujarat was at 334 contributing 21.6% of the active cases for a day in India.
When asked, BJP’s media convener Yagnesh Dave assured that the government is coming up with new Standard Operating Procedure to tackle Covid and the government will also follow the protocol. “New set of SOPs are underway and the government ensures that the protocols will be followed by the party members.”
“Also, the citizens should not put all the burden on the government. They are equally responsible for following Covid- appropriate behaviour,” he adds.
Yogesh Jadvani, chief spokesperson of AAP Gujarat said, “Since the day CR Paatil became Gujarat BJP chief in July, 2020 till date; the party has never taken Covid seriously –- their gatherings and celebrations have never stopped.”
Citing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his idea of safety during Covid, Jadvani adds, “Following the instructions of the party chief we have postponed our events for the next month.”
Gujarat Congress President Jagdish Thakor asserted that there is a difference between what the BJP preaches and practices. He said, “On one side, the government organises public gatherings and on the other, they preach Covid precautions. Public will not understand the seriousness of Covid if the government itself is so careless.”
Thakor also pointed out that Congress party gatherings are limited to a maximum of 150 members. “Sarkar je bole ane je kare ema bahu antar chhe (there is a different what the government speaks and does). But we want to make sure that as a party we set the right example.” he added.
Former president of Ahmedabad Medical Association and Chairperson of women’s wing of Indian Medical Association, Dr Mona Desai, cautioned about the increasing Covid cases in the State. She said, “It is futile to talk about the government and why they should avoid public gatherings. We know that they will do what they want to.”
“All I can say is…we can’t stop the third Covid wave from coming if we don’t understand the gravity of the situation. Our New Year will bring more danger if we don’t stop now,” she added.
Sabir Kabliwala, Gujarat State President of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen believes that the government brings the Covid scare when they want to and they fizzle it down at their own will. “Now that Vibrant Gujarat and other public events are on the cards they will underplay Covid and later at their own convenience they will magnify it. It’s all political.”
AIMIM party members have mutually decided to adhere to Covid precautions and have postponed all their mass gatherings for the next two months.
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