GUWAHATI: The Coronavirus scare has not left anyone untouched. Starting from the lowest strata to higher ones, all appear to be coming under its vicious grip and the political class is no exception.
The all important BTC elections in lower Assam slated to take place on April 4 was postponed indefinitely driving home the point that the virus which has spread its tentacles across the world is consuming whatever is coming its way.
It also gives credence to the fact that no one is immune be it the privileged political class or the struggling cattle class. Though in India we are still in a relatively safer zone compared to other countries, the community transfer of the virus will spread havoc considering the 1.21 billion population of the country.
There is also a growing demand for the current Parliament session to be deferred considering the threat perception.
The pressure mounted on the government on Friday to end the ongoing Parliament session at the earliest after several politicians quarantined themselves. The session is scheduled to end on April 3.
Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje tweeted that she and her son Dushyant Singh have gone into self-quarantine after attending singer Kannika Kapoor's party in Lucknow last week. They, however, have not tested positive - yet.
Earlier in the day, Kapoor quarantined herself after testing positive for coronavirus. In a statement released on Instagram, the 41-year-old singer said she developed signs of flu in the last four days.
Kapoor had landed in Lucknow from the United Kingdom in the second week of March and had attended at least four parties in Lucknow between March 14 and 16 and also stayed with her family in Kanpur. There are allegations that she was not screened for coronavirus at the Lucknow airport.
Raje and Singh, along with several other politicians and bureaucrats, had attended the party at a hotel in Lucknow on March 14. Kapoor was present there as was Uttar Pradesh health minister Jai Pratap Singh, who has also quarantined himself. The party was hosted by a nephew of former Bahujan Samaj Party MP, Akbar Ahmed Dumpy.
Singh is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member, and had actively participated in parliamentary proceedings and meetings after his return from Lucknow.
Coming back to Assam, the postponement of Bodoland elections till further notice gives us a signal that though till now a single case has been tested positive in the state, the government is taking no chances.
And as responsible citizens in this hour of crisis we need to be with the government at every step which would save us from the pandemic coronavirus.
