Covid-19: Tightrope walk for netas who can't say no to people

Even as several MLAs and an MP have tested positive for Covid-19 over the past week, political leaders are walking the tightrope of carrying out public interaction amid the pandemic.

Unable to completely cut themselves off from interacting with people, leaders have come up with their own measures.

Speaking to DH, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar said his interactions henceforth would strictly be based on appointments only. “I will issue a separate set of timings for legislators and party workers. Holding this office, I cannot avoid meeting people. So, I am thinking of this new measure,” he said.

The Congress also held a meeting on Thursday to chalk out measures related to Covid-19. “We are completely sanitising the party office. We are working out ways in which we can further bolster our measures,” Shivakumar added.

BJP general secretary N Ravi Kumar, on his part, has streamlined visits to his office. “I have not stopped public interaction. But I am insisting that anyone who comes to meet me needs to maintain two metres distance, wear a mask and use a sanitiser. Also, I am ensuring that not more than two people enter my office at a time. If there are five or six visitors, I am asking them to come in two batches,” he said.

According to sources in JD(S), its leader H D Kumaraswamy has more or less migrated to online. Except for visit to his constituency (Channapatna) on crucial issues, he has limited himself to online interactions, party members
said.

Meanwhile, after a staff member in his office tested positive, political secretary to Chief Minister M P Renukacharya tweeted that he would, until Friday, take meetings from his home office and would not meet people directly. “I request well-wishers and the public, not to meet me directly. Please connect with me over telephone,” he said.