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Congress supporter Saket Gokhale spreads lies to defend Maharashtra govt’s harassment of Bruck Pharma director over Remdesivir supply

OpIndia Staff
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Congress supporter Saket Gokhale spreads lies to defend Maharashtra govt’s harassment of Bruck Pharma director over Remdesivir supply

Congress supporter and serial petitioner Saket Gokhale took to Twitter on Sunday to do what he is best at, that is fear-mongering and spreading fake news. Gokhale in a series of baseless tweets alleged that the BJP hoarded Rs 4.75 crores worth of Remdesivir in their party office in Maharashtra.

The allegations were made after the Mumbai Police on Saturday detained and questioned a director of Daman-based pharma company Bruck Pharmaceuticals over the supply of Remdesivir vials. Maharashtra unit of BJP had ordered Remdesivir from the company to be supplied to people in Maharashtra, but after the company had readied the product for delivery, the police had detained the director accusing them of hoarding the drug. The director was later released when Devendra Fadnacis raised the issue last night.

The serious allegations levelled against the opposition party by Gokhale have no proof attached and are also devoid of truth.

What Saket Gokhale claims

Gokhale in his first query expressed amusement over how a “private individual” like Fadnavis “could procure Remdesivir stock from Gujarat when the sale is allowed only to the government?”

The leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis in his media interaction had clearly stated, “Four days ago our leaders Pravin Darekar and Prasad Lal had gone to Daman to Bruck Pharma and requested them to supply the drug to Maharashtra. They obliged but said they did not have the license. Then I spoke to (union minister) Mansukh Mandaviya and got them the license.” The arrangement was made by the opposition party in Maharashtra after observing an acute shortage of the critical drug used in the treatment of Covid-19 in the state. It is also clear that the Union Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizers had approved the delivery of the drug to Maharashtra, hence it was not a private deal unknown to the government.

Gokhale also displayed his poor knowledge of geography, as the Bruck plant is in Daman in the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Union Territory, and not in Gujarat as he is claiming.

Gokhale, in his next tweet, alleged that BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had bypassed the state government for procuring the drug.

Praveen Darekar of the Bhartiya Janta Party who had accompanied Devendra Fadnavis to the police station had informed that the state minister for Food and Drugs Rajendra Shingne was in the know of the plan as the procurement and transportation of the drug required state govt’s permission.

Gokhale in the same tweet made another baseless claim that the Remdesivir stock was being hoarded by the BJP in a party office. To his dismay, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, zone 8, Manjunath Shinge in a statement informed that they received inputs of 60,000 Remdesivir vials stocked in a ‘storage facility’ and that the director was called for an inquiry on the same.

Furthering NCP leader Nawab Malik’s deceit, Gokhale in his next tweet alleged that the Central government had stopped the supplies of Remdesivir to the Maharashtra government.

The BJP leaders were quick to diffuse the baseless allegations. BJP MP Manoj Kotak had shared images of two identical letters issued by the FDA’s of the respective state governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat, stating the Centre has no role in the matter.

Mumbai BJP spokesperson Suresh Nakhua also shared the letters by the Gujarat and Maharashtra government respectively and exclaimed that the MVA government has not been prompt enough in dealing with the crisis at hand.

In his concluding tweet, Gokhale tagged the leaders of non-NDA parties and requested them to investigate if the BJP is running a similar scheme in other states. Asking for a probe into the matter, he launched an attack on the Centre stating, “Fadnavis in collusion with the Modi Govt is starving Maharashtra of Remdesivir supplies while hoarding them in BJP offices.”

However, it is imperative to know that the Maharashtra government’s latency had forced the opposition to get into action to deal with the current crisis at hand. A State FDA official admitted that they were still in the planning stage to give emergency approval to a few manufacturers for direct sale. “But right now it is in the talks stage. Bruck has not been given marketing approval yet,” he added. 

Role of Bruck Pharma

Bruck Pharma is one of the 16 manufacturers of Remdesivir with its manufacturing unit in Dabhel, Daman that has permission to export the drug. However, the company does not have a marketing license and this is where the leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis had sought quick permission from the FDA to supply the drug to the state in a sincere attempt.

Gorakhpur tragedy accused Dr Kafeel Khan asks people to use steroids as ‘self medication’ to manage COVID

OpIndia Staff
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Gorakhpur tragedy accused Dr Kafeel Khan asks people to use steroids as ‘self medication’ to manage COVID

Dr Kafeel Khan, an accused in the Gorakhpur tragedy, is advising people on social media to ‘self medicate’ themselves against Covid-19 and has even suggested a series of medicines with dangerous side-effects if consumed without medical supervision.

The controversial doctor prescribed inhaled budesonide (steroid) 2 puffs twice a day and Dexamethasone (steroid) 6 mg daily for 10 days. Such medicines if taken without medical supervision can have extremely dangerous side effects.

The source of the information, according to the message shared by Khan, is Dr Zain Chagla, a physician in Canada with expertise in infectious diseases.

After people pointed out the risk of such advise, Kafeel Khan issued another tweet saying that Dexamethasone should only be consumed under trained medical supervision. But by then, it was too late and the tweet had received hundreds of retweets and thousands of ‘likes’.

As a responsible media platform, we urge people to consult a physician before following any recommendation on social media.

Dr Kafeel Khan was suspended after allegations of medical negligence were levelled against him in 2017 after 72 infants had died in BRD medical college in Gorakhpur due to lack of oxygen supply, and was arrested on that charge.

Two years later, after a probe by UP police, the charges of negligence and corruption were dropped, but he was still charged with running a private practice and two other accusations. He was released in 2018 after spending 9 months in jail.

He had in the past taken to social media to spread false news that he had been given a ‘clean chit’ in the 2017 case in a departmental inquiry. The Uttar Pradesh government had in October initiated a fresh inquiry against him for spreading misinformation and forcibly entering a hospital and trying to treat patients during his suspension period.

Uttar Pradesh government ramps up preparations for Covid-19 surge in the state, five quarantine centres set-up in Lucknow for migrant workers

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh government ramps up preparations for Covid-19 surge in the state, five quarantine centres set-up in Lucknow for migrant workers

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has ramped up preparations to deal with the surge in Covid-19 cases. The state has decided to set up five quarantine centres for migrant workers coming from other states. Yogi Adityanath government has ordered to establish quarantine centres in every district and village so that the migrant workers coming from other states like Maharashtra can be quarantined before letting them go to their native places.

Beds already arranged in two out of five centres in Lucknow

250 beds have already been put up in two out of five quarantine centres in Lucknow, which are located at Radhasoami Satsang Vyas Sthal in Mohallaganj and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Institute in Kankaha. The state government will provide medical facilities and basic amenities in these centres. The locations for other centres are BBD University, Avadh Shilp Gram (in association with HAL) at Shaheed Path and Shakuntala Devi University. These centres will be functional soon.

Testing to be done at railway stations, bus stations and airports

The state has made all the arrangements to screen travellers coming entering the state from railway stations, bus stations and airports. The visitors have to undergo Antigen and RT-PCR tests. If anyone shows symptoms of Covid-19, the person will be kept at a quarantine centre. In case someone does not have the facility to stay under home isolation, they have to undergo institutional quarantine.

State-wide weekend lockdown for 35 hours

The state went under a 35-hour weekend lockdown on April 17, 8 PM, which will continue till April 19, 7 AM. Navneet Sehgal, ACS, Information, Government of Uttar Pradesh mentioned during this period, only sanitization, sanitation and emergency services will be allowed to operate. The state, however, allowed examinations to take place during the weekend. ASI-controlled monuments including the Taj Mahal will remain shut for the public till May 15.

Sehgal said that the state is increasing dedicated Covid-19 hospitals in every district. The number of L-2 and L-3 hospitals is also being increased in the state.

During a virtual press conference, Amit Mohan Prasad, ACS, Health and Medicine, Uttar Pradesh, said, General OPD and OTs will remain closed for the weekend. Chief Minister Arogya Mela has also been postponed due to the increasing number of cases in the state.

Oxygen plants underway

On April 18, CM Yogi ordered the setting up of 10 oxygen plants in the state. These plants will extract medical grade oxygen from the atmosphere. DRDO will provide support for these plants. As per the reports, these plants will start functioning in the next two weeks. He directed the officials to ensure oxygen supply to all hospitals and asked the DG (Medical Education) to arrange cylinders for the hospitals where there was no ICU bed available due to lack of oxygen. An oxygen plan started to function in SGPGI with a capacity of 20,000 litres.

Tests and vaccination ramped up in state

The state is also working on increasing the number of testing done per day. Sehgal mentioned that UP had administered 2,15,790 tests in 24 hours. So far, the state has administered 3,80,29,865 Covid-19 tests. A total of 1,05,62,121 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine has been administered in the state. 89,97,344 people have received their first shot, while 15,64,777 have received both shots of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Uttar Pradesh reported 19,383 cases on April 17. While 7,831 recovered, 120 lost their lives due to Covid-19 related complications. 

Aam Aadmi Party shares manipulated media of Amit Shah to claim PM Modi ‘sleeps’ 24 hours a day

OpIndia Staff
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Aam Aadmi Party shares manipulated media of Amit Shah to claim PM Modi ‘sleeps’ 24 hours a day

On April 17, Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi unit shared a manipulated media of Home Minister Amit Shah to claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘sleeps’ 24-hours a day.

In the tweet, AAP alleged that HM Amit Shah ‘exposed’ PM Modi and said, “Modi Ji sleeps 24 hours for benefit of poor.” The party further wrote, “If Modi Ji did not sleep for 24 hours, some lives could have been saved.” The tweet contains an eight-second clip which has Shah speaking while addressing a rally.

The truth behind the manipulated media

The video was clipped from HM Amit Shah’s public address in Chapra, West Bengal. When OpIndia checked the video, it was clear that Aam Aadmi Party tried to get away with mishearing’ sochte’ (think) with ‘sote’ (sleep).

During his address, Home Minister Shah had targeted West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. He said, “This government works for the benefit of the nephew of Banerjee. PM Modi keeps thinking 24 hours a day about how he can work for the benefit of the poor. On the other hand, didi [Mamata Banerjee] keeps thinking when his nephew will become Chief Minister.”

The social media team of Arvind Kejriwal’s party trimmed the video and made it look like as if HM Shah was criticizing PM Modi for ‘sleeping’ the whole day.

AAP has a track record of doctored videos and misinformation

Aam Aadmi Party has a long history of publishing misinformation and doctored or manipulative media. On December 8 last year, AAP claimed that Delhi Police had house arrested CM Kejriwal. However, Delhi Police released a video of Kejriwal attending a video to bust the party’s claims.

On April 8, 2021, AAP claimed that the Food Corporation of India was not procuring wheat in Delhi. However, FCI rubbished the claims and posted photographs of Mandis functioning in the state.

It has to be noted that former MLA of AAP Tahir Hussain, one of the main accused in the 2020 Delhi Riots, had allegedly used doctored videos to show himself as a victim of the riots. More details about Tahir’s alleged involvement in the riots can be read here.

Bomb scare on AirAsia flight bound for Delhi from Bengaluru. Here is what we know so far

OpIndia Staff
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Bomb scare on AirAsia flight bound for Delhi from Bengaluru. Here is what we know so far

On Saturday (April 17), an AirAsia India flight travelling from Bengaluru to Delhi was subjected to a bomb scare after the flight captain discovered a threat note in the washroom, reported The Times of India. It must be mentioned that the flight was scheduled to travel to Srinagar, after reaching Delhi.

The flight (15-741) departed from Bengaluru at about 11:30 am. When the journey was close to completion, flight Captain Kiran Sangwan discovered a note threatening about a bomb blast. “There is a bomb on board I will blast as on as it reaches Delhi,” the note emphasised. Captain Sangwan immediately alerted the Delhi Air Traffic Control (ATC) about the situation at hand. He sought a ‘priority landing’ at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport at 1:53 pm.

The ATC briefed the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), who then formed a threat assessment panel as per the procedure. The flight landed at the IGI airport at 2:07 pm and was taken to the bay area instead of the operational area. Following that, a total of 159 passengers were asked to deboard along with their handbags. The CISF personnel then checked the aircraft, luggage, and the passengers. The security forces soon realised that the threat note was a hoax. After a few hours, the aircraft was allowed to fly again.

Investigation narrows down to 12 people

Meanwhile, the investigation in the case was narrowed down to just 12 passengers, on the basis of profiling and handwriting test. A police investigation has now been initiated in the bomb scare cases. The statement of the flight crew has been recorded while the 12 suspects were taken to the IGI police station. The remaining 143 passengers were allowed to go. Cops are now matching their handwriting samples with that of the handwriting on the threat note.

AirAsia releases statement following the bomb scare case

While speaking about the matter, an AirAsia India spokesperson said: “Flight 15 741 from Bengaluru to New Delhi on Saturday was subject to a bomb threat while en route. The crew took all necessary precautions and landed at Delhi uneventfully. The aircraft was taken to an isolation bay till cleared by authorities and all guests and crew were deplaned safely. Security procedures were initiated as per laid down norms and an investigation is currently ongoing.”

The spokesperson further added, “AirAsia regrets the disruption in travel plans of our guests on account of circumstances beyond our control. We are reaching out and providing all possible assistance to all our affected guests. Aircraft search completed by authorities and clearance has been given. Aircraft moved out from isolation bay to operational bay.”

World Hindu Foundation asks Justice Rohinton Nariman to take back his ‘mischievous’ comments on Vedas

OpIndia Staff
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World Hindu Foundation asks Justice Rohinton Nariman to take back his ‘mischievous’ comments on Vedas

Swami Vigyananand, founder of the World Hindu Foundation, has expressed outrage at recent comments on Hinduism made by Justice Rohinton Nariman. The Supreme Court Justice had recently made comments on the stature of women in religion and the Rig Veda at the 26th Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lecture.

Justice Rohinton Nariman had claimed, “Rig Veda says do not make lasting friendship with women because she would be like hyena.” The remark has attracted severe criticism, which was interpreted by many an insult to Hindu sentiments.

Swami Vigyananand said, “I am wounded and outraged at Justice Rohinton Nariman’s disparaging and incorrect comments on Rigveda during his address at the 26th Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lecture organised on the 16th April 2021 and livestreamed. As a Panini grammar, Vedang, Eastern Philosophy, Brahamana and Vedic Samhita scholar, I wish to bring to Justice Nariman’s notice that Vedas are not the scriptures to be translated literally.”

“I believe that you are not qualified to interpret Vedas and ancient Hindu scriptures. Therefore, you must resist from making any commentary on Hindu scriptures and Vedas based on your reading of secondary sources. Moreover, you hold a responsible position in judiciary. You must behave responsibly in speaking about issues concerning the great Dharma and Bharat’s civilisational heritage,” he said.

Swami Vigyananand continued, “Finally, I request you to take back your incorrect interpretation of Rigveda through your lecture. If you have any doubts about interpretation of Vedas, I invite you for an open debate at any platform. I hope you shall amend at the earliest the hurt and outrage caused to 1.2 billion followers of the faith by your mischievous comments on Rigveda.”

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta challenges for free flight tickets to Pakistan but goes into hiding after Twitter user provides it. Read what happened

OpIndia Staff
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Filmmaker Hansal Mehta challenges for free flight tickets to Pakistan but goes into hiding after Twitter user provides it. Read what happened

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta is surely not having his best time on social media platform Twitter. After mocking the sadhus of Kumbh Mela, Mehta on Sunday posed a question asking if Pakistan was performing as bad as India in terms of the new coronavirus cases. Of course his attempt was to assert that the conditions in Pakistan were better than in India.

To this, a netizen was quick to offer a first class one way ticket to Pakistan if Mehta agreed to move out of the country permanently since he considered the situation in our neighboring country to be better.

Screenshot of Hansal Mehta’s banter with a Twitter user

To his Mehta asked the user to book his ticket instantly and offered to share his bank details in case the user was willing to transfer the amount for the ticket.

The user then put the condition that Mehta would have to pay him 10 times the ticket amount if chose to return back from Pakistan.

The banter continued with Mehta asking him to transfer the money first and put conditions later.

To everyone’s surprise, the user actually booked the ticket from Mumbai to Dubai and Dubai to Pakistan for the 20th of April under Hansal Mehta’s name.

Screenshot of Dev’s tweet with the booked ticket

Here’s the full image of the ticket shared by the user.

Ticket booked by twitter user for Hansal Mehta’s trip to Pakistan

The netizens however are still waiting for a reply from the filmmaker.

Speaking the language of the left media, Hansal Mehta the famed filmmaker shared an old image of the Kumbh Mela’s congregation and mocked the sadhus.

Hansal Mehta sharing an old 2019 image as current Kumbh image

However, Hansal Mehta has since made his account private.

Hansal Mehta’s Twitter account made private

Mehta’s flight to Pakistan via Dubai is scheduled for 20th April, 2021. We shall keep you posted if Mehta goes to Pakistan or will he register his name in long list of paper tigers.

From fake Remdesivir in Sharad Pawar’s constituency to fake RT-PCR reports: Thugs are having a free run in Maharashtra amid pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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From fake Remdesivir in Sharad Pawar’s constituency to fake RT-PCR reports: Thugs are having a free run in Maharashtra amid pandemic

After receiving a tip-off about black-marketing of Remdesivir, the Pune rural police arrested four persons for allegedly selling fake Remdesivir injections in the Baramati area. 

A police official informed that three injenction vials labeled as Remdesivir, filled with liquid form of paracetamol were seized from the accused. Baramati is home town of NCP chief Sharad Pawar who also represents it in the Lok Sabha.

Narayan Shirgavkar, deputy superintendent of police, Baramati division informed that the accused were selling the fake drug at ₹35,000 per vial while its authorized market price is ₹1,100. “We have arrested four people under relevant sections of the IPC, Essential Commodities Act, Drug & Cosmetics Act and Drugs (Price Control) Act,” he added.

According to the information given by the police, Prashant Gharat (23), Shankar Bhise (22), Dilip Gaikwad (35) and Sandeep Gaikwad (20) have been arrested.

The four accused have sold seven duplicate injections to the relatives of Covid-19 positive patients until now. The police also fear that the patients to whom the fake injections were sold might develop some side effects. The police are now tracing the relatives of seven patients, to whom the injections have been sold. 

The arrests were made after laying a trap upon receiving information, where the police recovered two Remdesivir vials. The vial seal was broken when the injection was examined and injection holes were visible in the rubber caps.

One of the accused worked as a ward boy at various hospitals and procured used Remdesivir vials to fill them with the liquid form of paracetamol while others found needy customers to sell the fake injections, the police officer said.

The state of Maharashtra is currently facing a shortage of Remdesivir, a critical drug used in the treatment of Covid-19.

Police busts fake RT-PCR report racket

Pune City Police on Saturday arrested two persons for allegedly selling fake Covid RT PCR reports in the name of a private lab at J M Road. During the police investigation, it was revealed that the two accused had issued fake Covid RT-PCR reports to multiple people.

A case was registered with Pune’s Deccan police station after a diagnostic centre received information that somebody is issuing fake reports under their lab’s name. 

The police have booked the two accused identified as Sagar Hande and Dayanand Kharate under IPC sections 419, 420, 465, 468, 469, 471 and 336, and further investigation is being conducted.

The police informed, “They have sold it to many people till now and police is investigating further links in the case.”

The Maharashtra government in an order issued on April 10 had made it compulsory for anyone delivering essential services to carry a negative RT-PCR report, valid for 15 days from issuance. The sudden high demand in testing and delay to release reports by the labs made it easy for the accused to release and sell fake reports to the needy.

After finishing rallies in all poll bound states amid rising COVID cases, Rahul Gandhi ‘cancels’ future rallies in Bengal where Congress has no chance

OpIndia Staff
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After finishing rallies in all poll bound states amid rising COVID cases, Rahul Gandhi ‘cancels’ future rallies in Bengal where Congress has no chance

After addressing crowded rallies across all poll bound states, Rahul Gandhi today took to social media to announce that he will not be addressing any future rallies in West Bengal.

Rahul Gandhi claimed that in view of COVID situation, he is suspending all public rallies in West Bengal with three phases of polling remaining. It is imperative to note here that Rahul Gandhi had continued to hold massive rallies across all poll-bound states, sometimes joined by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, despite rising COVID cases.

On April 4, 2021, Rahul Gandhi addressed and boasted about massive rally in Kerala. Kerala is second worst affected state in terms of maximum COVID cases. On 4th April, Kerala had over 11 lakh total coronavirus cases, of which almost 28,000 were active cases. At the time of this report on 18th April, 2021, Kerala has 80,000 plus active cases.

Here is Rahul Gandhi addressing massive gathering in Tamil Nadu. On 28th March, 2021, Tamil Nadu had a total of 8,79,473 total cases of which 13,070 were active cases. As of today, there are 65,000 active cases in Tamil Nadu.

Here is Congress boasting about massive gathering of people biding farewell to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Assam.

Elections in Assam, Tamil Nadu and Assam along with Union Territory of Puducherry have already concluded.

In West Bengal, where Congress is in alliance with Left parties, does not quite stand a chance to form government. Many are predicting even fewer seats than the 2016 tally for Congress and its alliance in the West Bengal elections.

Rahul Gandhi criticises rallies four days after addressing massively crowded rally in Bengal

Dibakar Dutta
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Rahul Gandhi criticises rallies four days after addressing massively crowded rally in Bengal

On Sunday (April 18), Congress scion Rahul Gandhi sparked a new controversy by attributing election rallies to the rising Coronavirus cases in the country.

In a tweet, he said, “Bimaro aur mritako ki bhi itni bheed pehali baar dekhi hai (I have seen such a large crowd of infected and deceased people too for the first time).” Gandhi’s tweet was followed with the hashtag ‘#rallies’. The Congress dynast took potshots at the ruling BJP for its aggressive campaign ahead of the 6th phase of polls in West Bengal.

Screengrab of the tweet by Rahul Gandhi

However, Rahul Gandhi was seen addressing a large gathering in Goalpokhar in West Bengal ahead of the 5th phase of Vidhan Sabha polls. Despite his criticism of election rallies, the Congress dynast has been guilty of doing the same thing. And the Congress party has been boasting about large crowds at his rallies, hoping to project it as the turn of the party’s political fortunes.

In a tweet on Wednesday (April 14), the official handle of the party tweeted, “Shri Rahul Gandhi receives a tremendous reception as he arrives for his public meeting at Goalpokhar in West Bengal.” The tweet was followed with the hashtag WBWelcomesRahulGandhi. The visuals, shared by the party, clearly showed how social distancing guidelines went for a toss during his rally.

Screengrab of the tweet by Congress

Despite holding a rally just 4 days ago, Rahul Gandhi has now resorted to virtue signalling.

During his address to Congress party workers, the Congress scion said, “Mamata Banerjee has been saying that a game would be played at the time of elections. What kind of game? Please explain who will build roads here or construct colleges and universities. If you want, we can play on that field.”

Screengrab of the tweet by Congress

Ahead of the polls in the State of Kerala, Rahul Gandhi was also seen conducting a roadshow on April 1. In a video uploaded on Youtube by the official handle of the party, the Congress MP from Wayanad was seen waving at people from a car. Interestingly, thousands of party workers were seen marching behind him with no regards to social distancing protocols.

(Video Courtesy: Youtube/ Indian National Congress)

While poll-bound West Bengal has a total of 45,300 active Coronavirus cases, Maharashtra has recorded 6,49,563 cases. This is despite the fact that no election rallies are being conducted in Maharashtra. It must be mentioned that the Congress is a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which is currently running the government in the State.

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