India News | Left Govt Tweaked COVID Protocol for Party Meets: Congress
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Kochi/ The Opposition Congress in Kerala on Friday criticised the Left government in the State by saying the COVID-19 health protocol in the State was tweaked to allow the ruling CPI(M) to conduct its party conferences, an allegation denied by the Communist party.
Kochi/Thrissur (Kerala), Jan 21 (PTI) The Opposition Congress in Kerala on Friday criticised the Left government in the State by saying the COVID-19 health protocol in the State was tweaked to allow the ruling CPI(M) to conduct its party conferences, an allegation denied by the Communist party.
Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan said the Thrissur and Kasaragod districts were not listed in the category of worst affected areas and the criteria was changed the other day.
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"The Left government has tweaked the COVID-19 protocols to hold the district conferences of the CPI(M). The restrictions were earlier based on the TPR that was changed on Thursday. The Thrissur and Kasargod districts, where the conferences started today, are not in any category," Satheesan told reporters in Kochi.
He said the decision to allow 300-400 people in the conferences in the two districts, where the TPR was high, would further spread the infection.
"A Minister and an MLA, along with hundreds of those who participated in the conference in Thiruvananthapuram, got the infection. This is something not happening elsewhere in the country," Sathesan said.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said his party does not intend to violate any health protocol.
"We have instructed delegates to maintain social distance, to wear masks and to use sanitisers for attending the conferences. Do you think the party wants its activists infected? We want to protect lives of all. The party does not intend to put anyone in harm's way," Balakrishnan told reporters in Thrissur.
He said the party follows strict COVID-19 protocol. Rejecting Satheesan's allegation that the CPI(M) had interfered in the COVID-19 restriction, Balakrishnan said it was the government that decided the protocol and his party had not submitted any suggestion in this regard.
"The number of delegates here (Thrissur) was reduced from 400 to 150 here. The State conference has also been planned accordingly. But the final decision on it will be taken after evaluating the circumstances," Balakrishnan said.
He said Kasaragod and Thrissur are not under the category where the spread is severe and the conferences are being held after adhering to the protocol.
Confirming that Kerala is witnessing the third wave of COVID-19, Kerala Health Minister Veena George cautioned people against it, and said Delta and Omicron variants of the virus caused the surge in daily cases.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)