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West Bengal BJP Chief Dilip Ghosh Says 'Corona Is Over' As State's Cases Reach 1.9 Lakh

Dilip Ghosh said the Mamata Banerjee government was imposing lockdown to prevent BJP from organising meetings.
Dilip Ghosh addressing a meeting at Dhaniakhali.
Twitter/@DilipGhoshBJP
Dilip Ghosh addressing a meeting at Dhaniakhali.

West Bengal, according the last government bulletin, has reported a total of 1,93,175 Covid-19 cases so far. But according to state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, the pandemic is over. At a rally on Wednesday he claimed that the Mamata Banerjee government was imposing lockdown to prevent the BJP from organising meetings in the state.

The day Ghosh made this statement, September 9, the state had recorded a whopping 3,107 new cases.

The coronavirus death toll in the state rose to 3,771 on Thursday and the tally mounted to 1,93,175 after 3,112 people, including Kolkata Police Commissioner Anuj Sharma, tested positive.

“Coronavirus is gone. Mamata Banerjee is just pretending and imposing lockdowns so that the BJP can’t organise meetings and rallies in the state. No one can stop us,” the BJP leader said at a rally in Dhaniakhali, according to NDTV. Assembly elections in West Bengal are due next year.

The West Bengal government had announced a lockdown for three days — September 7, September 11 and September 12 —this month to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the state. The government said on Thursday that there would be no lockdown on Saturday because National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) will be held on Sunday.

India Today pointed out that in Wednesday’s rally, Ghosh was accompanied by Hooghly BJP MP Locket Chatterjee, who had tested positive for Covid-19 in July.

Former Bengal minister Madan Mitra said Ghosh is “living in denial”. Mitra said that Banerjee does not need a pandemic to gain political points, according to the India Today report.

A day after Ghosh’s statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people not to take Covid-19 lightly and follow the rules of wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing till a vaccine is developed.

“I have certain expectations from you. That is to follow the rule of wearing a mask and do gaj ki doori (a distance of two yards).

“Be safe and remain healthy. Take care of senior citizens in the family. These things are important. Do not take coronavirus lightly,” Modi said.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.