Everything got locked down but not the politics.
Since the first case of Coronavirus was reported in Gujarat, state government has brought bureaucrats and police in forefront, making them the face of almost every press conference. Every day, there are new findings about the nature of this novel virus which should be taken into consideration for modifying the strategy to handle this pandemic, however, there is no significant change in the strategy developed during Lockdown 1.0 to 4.0. In the initial days, it was required to sensitise people about social distancing, washing hands and wearing a mask, but this whole time-local politicians right from councilors, mayor, MLA or MP were missing out of the scene to co-ordinate with police and make people of their constituents understand to co-operate with police and follow guidelines.
In lockdown 1.0, migrants who wanted to go back started walking or pedaling to their home state amid lockdown. At that time, it was the duty of MLA and MP to intervene. Alas, bureaucrats had to face the migrant workers wrath, while the police brought them at shelter camps by making them understand politely. Bureaucrats believed that they must go ahead with their plans without keeping local politicians in loop, as too many cooks spoil the broth.
Later, the tussle between corporators in Vadodara surfaced in media regarding the sanitization of their area with pants down high drama, but few of them sanitized their area on their own expense and did not miss the Photo-Op. More than sanitizing the societies, this virus needs contact tracing and isolating the host to break the chain. Local councilors are not even aware about how many people of their area are in the administrative quarantine protocol.
After 50 days of lockdown, CM Vijay Rupani launched ‘Hu Pan Corona Warrior’ campaign from 21st May to sensitise people about the safety measures that are to be taken while opening the economy with caution. Since the launch of this campaign, all BJP politicians are given the task to promote this campaign in different ways, and so, yesterday MP Ranjanben Bhatt, Bhargav Bhatt and other members wore corona virus shaped helmet in the presence of the media at Market char rasta. In other cities, BJP members too were on roads with placards of ‘Hu Pan Corona Warrior’.
Other than BJP workers, religious leaders and celebrities are roped in to make videos for this campaign, but this campaign has merely gained attraction among general people of Gujarat.
Doctors, Nurses, Police, Bureaucrats, Hospital staff, ASHA workers and Government school teachers are frontline workers who are the front face of this pandemic. Have you heard your Corporator, MP or MLA talking about testing capacity, contact tracing or Quarantine facility?
