Mamata to Election Commission: BJP precipitated Covid surge in Bengal, ban outsiders

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday urged the Election Commission to cease the BJP from bringing in “outsiders” for campaigning within the ongoing Assembly elections, and blamed the saffron celebration for inflicting the Covid-19 surge within the state.
“When Covid-19 cases were low, the virus became weak. Modi could have given vaccinations to everyone. Today, Covid cases are on the rise because of him and the outsiders who are entering the state, spreading the virus and fleeing. We have no problem with the prime minister and other leaders coming. But, why are they bringing men from the worst-affected states?” Banerjee mentioned at a rally. She campaigned within the districts of Nadia and North 24 Parganas.
At a gathering at Jagatdal in North 24 Parganas, the TMC chief mentioned Covid checks of these coming into the state, decorators and employees ought to be made obligatory.
She claimed that the state of affairs in states resembling Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, each dominated by the BJP, was far worse than in Bengal. “In UP, they have built walls around cremation sites to secretly burn bodies. The situation in Gujarat is alarming. A Bengali lady professor died there of coronavirus due to lack of treatment.”
The TMC chief claimed if the BJP remained within the state, it will “snatch the dignity of every person” and lift fuel costs to Rs 5,000. “People will not be able to survive.”

Urging folks to vote, Banerjee mentioned, “If you do not then the BJP will take advantage and delete your name from voters’ list and then you will have to prove your citizenship.”

EC: Seizures in 4 states, UT value over Rs 1,000 cr
The EC on Friday mentioned report seizures value over Rs 1,000 crore have been made thus far within the 4 poll-going states and Puducherry as a part of the expenditure monitoring course of. The seizures already surpass the overall seizures made in meeting elections (Rs 225 crore) to those states and the union territory in 2016, it mentioned.
With PTI inputs