Rahul Gandhi Suspends Congress Campaign In West Bengal, Three Candidates Die

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on April 18 tweeted to say that he is suspending all his public rallies in West Bengal in view of the Covid-19 situation in the state. A Sitting TMC MLA Abdur Rahman succumbed to Covid-19 on April 17, after the death of two West Bengal poll contestants earlier. Congress' Rezaul Haque standing from Murshidabad's Samsherganj also died from Covid-19 related complications. Sanjukta Morcha candidate of Jangipur, RSP’s Pradip Kumar Nandi (69), died of Covid-19 on April 16. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi also said, “We need humility, a clear vaccine strategy & income support to contain this virus and related damage”. CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted asking if Amit Shah & Modi’s rallies were more important than Indian lives. West Bengal reported 6,910 new infections & 26 deaths just ahead of the polling in the fifth phase, As per the state health bulletin, total count of cases has reached 6,59,927. The number of active cases in the state stands at 49,638.