India is currently experiencing the second wave of Covid-19, and the number of cases is rising exponentially from the last few weeks. Just a month ago, on March 7, India had reported 18,000+ cases in contrast to April 4, where over one lakh new cases were reported in a single day. In just a month, the cases saw a 5-times jump.
Congress-led states among the top contributors
Currently, Congress is in power in five legislative assemblies – Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. While in the first three states, Congress is in the absolute majority, in the latter two states, it is part of an alliance. In Maharashtra, it has formed a government with Shiv Sena and NCP under Maha Vikas Aghadi or MVA, and in Jharkhand, it formed the government as a part of Mahagathbandhan or MGB.
Maharashtra is the top contributor
Maharashtra has been the top contributor of Covid-19 cases in India. The uncontrolled rise of coronavirus cases in the state has pushed Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to impose lockdown in the state. It is pertinent to note that the central government had advised the Maharashtra government to not impose a lockdown but focus on effective containment. The central government had said that at this point in time, lockdowns would not help curb the case. However, Maharashtra has gone against that advice and imposed a lockdown in certain parts and weekend lockdown in other areas anyway.
For example, in Pune, it is reported that all shops are supposed to be shut till 30th April. Maharashtra has now announced a full lockdown over the weekends and several restrictions to be imposed through the month of April.
The state has been consistently reporting 45,000+ cases from the last six days. On April 4, it broke all records and reported 57,000+ cases in a single day.
Rajasthan is looking at rising numbers
The state of Rajasthan was reporting less than 500 cases a day just a month ago. The situation started to change on March 22 when it reported 602 cases. On March 28, the state reported over 1000 cases. Since April 3, Rajasthan has been reporting 1500+ cases, and on April 5, it reported over 2,400 cases.
Chhattisgarh walking on the same line as Rajasthan
Just a month ago, Chhattisgarh was reporting less than 500 cases. The situation started to get worse on March 15, when it reported 500+ cases. By March 18, the state was reporting 1000+ cases. On April 1, it reported 4,617+ cases which further rose to 7,300+ on April 5.
Jharkhand rose from 40+ cases to 1000+ in one month
In just a month, the state of Jharkhand went from 40+ cases to 1000+ cases in a day. On March 6, the state reported only 44 new cases. The situation started to go out of hands-on on March 26 when the number of cases rose beyond the 250+ mark. By April 1, it crossed the 600+ mark, and on April 5, the state reported over 1,000 cases in a single day.
Punjab is on the path to see the worse situation
A month ago, the situation in Punjab was already on the decline as it was reporting over 1,000 cases. By March 17, the number rose above 2,000 cases in a single day. Since March 26, the number of new cases per day has been consistently jumping between 2,750 and 3,100.
Approx 63% of new cases came from Congress-ruled states
On April 5, Congress-led states Maharashtra (47,288), Chhattisgarh (7,302), Punjab (2,692), Rajasthan (2,429) and Jharkhand (1,086) reported 60,797 out of 96,982 total cases reported in India, making these five states contributing approx 63% in the total tally.
Other Non-BJP states contributed 15% (approx) of cases
Other non-BJP ruled states, that are Delhi (3,548), Andhra Pradesh (1,326), Kerala (2,357), Tamil Nadu (3,672), West Bengal (1,961), and Telangana (1,498), contributed approx 15% of new cases on April 5.
BJP-ruled states contributed close to 22% (approx) of cases
The states that are under BJP rule individually (eight states) or in alliance (nine states) or under centre’s or president rule contributed approx 22% new cases on April 5. These states are Arunachal Pradesh (2), Assam (70), Bihar (935), Goa (247), Gujarat (3,106), Haryana (2,040), Himachal Pradesh (567), Karnataka (5,279), Madhya Pradesh (3,398), Manipur (5), Meghalaya (4), Mizoram (9), Nagaland (2), Sikkim (6), Tripura (14), Uttar pradesh (3,974), Uttarakhand (547), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (7), Chandigarh (285), Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (26), Jammu and Kashmir (442), Ladakh (48), Lakshadweep (3), and Puducherry (180).
Covid-19 cases in India
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, so far India has reported a total of 1,26,86,049 Covid-19 cases out of which 1,17,32,279 have recovered. There are 7,88,223 active cases in the country and 1,65,547 have lost their lives. On April 5, India reported 96,982 new cases.