With reports of deaths of as many as 135 people including teachers who were on poll duty, and many more infected, the recently concluded panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh — which is among the worst affected states in the country — appears to have become a ''super spreader''.
A scrutiny of the Covid-19 statistics in the districts after the conclusion of the panchayat polls revealed that the number of positive cases witnessed a sharp increase in several places.
Sources said Covid-19 positive cases from the poll-bound districts formed a little over 21 per cent of the total cases in the state before the elections. It however increased to 29 per cent three days after the polls.
Similarly, the number of positive cases formed 40 per cent of the state's total cases in 19 other districts, where the polls had taken place on April 19. It rose to 44 per cent after the polls.
Pictures of the people queuing up to cast their votes showed that barely a handful had worn masks.
Leaders of various opposition parties, as well as other outfits, had warned the state government against holding the polls and urged it to defer them. The government, however, went ahead with the polls.
Even several BJP leaders, including MPs and MLAs, had asked the state government to defer the polls.
The Allahabad high court had a few days back rapped the Election Commission (EC) for failing to ensure adherence to the guidelines during the panchayat polls and issued notices to UP State Election Commission (SEC) to explain as to why it failed in checking non-compliance of Covid-19 guidelines.
The court had also asked the SEC to explain why action should not be taken against it and its officials for the failure and to prosecute those responsible for such violations.
Uttar Pradesh reported 34,626 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24-hours.
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