Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said it would have been better to gracefully postpone the Prime Minister's rally in Punjab knowing that rain had occurred and chairs were vacant on the venue instead of levelling allegations against Punjab CM and the government. (PTI)
These leaders were not only crowd-pullers for their parties but also represented vote banks that have the capacity of making and marring fortunes.
Holding the Congress government in Punjab responsible for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach on the way to Ferozepur, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that the party cannot be forgiven for the serious lapse.
Singh said a prime minister represents the country and his office is an institution which everyone should respect.
"The Congress is in power in Punjab. Could we have imagined a security breach in the prime minister's convoy like the one that happened there yesterday (on Wednesday)?" he asked.
"If we cannot ensure safety of institutions like that of the prime minister, it would be difficult to prevent disintegration of the country's democratic institutions," Singh said addressing the BJP's concluding Vijay Sankalp rally in Uttarkashi.
The Election Commission on Thursday reviewed the current Covid situation in the five poll-bound states with Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, AIIMS Director, Dr Randeep Guleria, and ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava.
Five states scheduled for Assembly polls this year are Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab, and Manipur.
According to a source, the health experts have briefed the top Election Commission officials to focus majorly on virtual rallies, seeing the unprecedented rise in the Covid cases across the country. The need to ramp up the vaccination process was also emphasised.
The source said that the need to ensure complete vaccination of eligible population was stressed to the Health Secretary in the meeting.