The third wave of the Coronavirus is likely to hit India by October, according to a Reuters poll conducted by medical experts. If the third wave hits India, its impact will largely depend on vaccination coverage, which scientists have emphasised in their findings. Several studies have come in the last few days.
This report has worried Trinamool Congress as Mamata Banerjee is eyeing to win the by-election in 6 months. Mamata Banerjee was repeatedly vocal in the last round of voting in the assembly election. She also blamed the Election Commission for spreading the virus.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest from Bhabanipur Assembly in one of the by-elections. By-elections will have to be held in four constituencies, including general elections in two assembly constituencies of West Bengal. According to the constitutional law, she must be elected MLA within the time frame of six months. But the date of the by-election will be announced by the Central Election Commission.
Some of the party’s top leaders feel that the Assembly by-election may be postponed on the pretext of the third wave of the pandemic. This means, by November 5, the Chief Minister has to fulfill the condition of winning the election and becoming an MLA. The six-month period ends on the same day.
If the Election Commission wishes, there will be no assembly by-election in Bengal! Or, if the commission wants, it may think that the vote cannot be held unless the third wave of corona subsides. Falakata Trinamool MLA Anil Adhikari passed away on October 31, 2019, and there was no vote for a year. BJP’s Deepak Barman has become the MLA in the just-concluded assembly polls.
As per law If there is no by-election, Mamata Banerjee will have to resign as Chief Minister and take oath again in a day.
By the bye, it is not only the Chief Minister who is contesting the polls. Two more members in the state cabinet will have to win again to become ministers— Finance Minister Amit Mitra and Agriculture Minister Shobhandev Chatterjee. Shobhandev won from the Bhabanipur assembly but left the center for the chief minister. The party has also informed him to field a candidate from the Kharadha assembly. Finance Minister Amit is probably not a candidate in the by-elections. It may be mentioned that there was no voting in Jangipur and Samsherganj constituencies due to the death of the candidates. Kajal Singh, the winning candidate in the Kharadaha constituency, died of Covid-19 before the results were announced. BJP’s Nishith Pramanik and Jagannath Sarkar have resigned from Dinhata and Shantipur constituencies following the party’s decision to stay as MPs. So by-elections in those two seats will be held as well.
India reported 1,32,364 new coronavirus infections taking the country’s total tally of Covid-19 cases to 2,85,74,350, while the recovery rate crossed 93 percent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.