COVID-19 in Bengal: Left-Congress to hold protest meet in Kolkata on Saturday against govt “mismanagement”

The Left Front-Congress alliance in West Bengal will stage a protest on Saturday in Kolkata opposing the role of state government in managing the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in the state.

The protest will be held at Entally Market area at around 2:15 pm. The leaders have decided that lockdown norms will be followed during the protest. The ongoing country-wide lockdown was implemented on March 24 midnight to contain COVID-19 and will continue till May 3.

Left Front and Congress leaders have accused the Mamata Banerjee-led government of mismanagement of COVID-19 situation on various fronts. They alleged that the government is not conducting enough tests to detect COVID-19 in a state like Bengal where population density is so high. They have also accused the state government of trying to suppress the number of actual deaths from COVID-19.

Leaders of the alliance have alleged that people are not getting their due rations everywhere in the state. Addressing the issue, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday announced that the food secretary was being replaced for failing to perform his role.

Banerjee had earlier written to chief ministers of 18 states to supply food and ration to workers from Bengal stranded in those states due to the lockdown. She had announced that the state will send “pocket money” to these workers so that they can meet their daily needs. The leaders alleged however, that the situation hasn’t improved much for the workers and demanded that the state should take more initiatives in this regard.