Surge in COVID-19 has nothing to do with the Oppn protests, Chennithala tells TNM

Pinarayi Vijayan and KK Shailaja had accused the Opposition in Kerala of weakening the COVID-19 containment activity.
Kerala Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala
Kerala Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala
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Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has accused the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front government in the state of failing to tackle the COVID-19 situation. Speaking to TNM, Chennithala dismissed the government’s allegation against the Opposition, that by holding crowded protests demanding the resignation of Higher Education Minister KT Jaleel, it tried to weaken the government’s COVID-19 containment activity.

“It (COVID-19) has nothing to do with the protests. The question is not whether to take part in agitations or not, but that the COVID-19 cases are increasing alarmingly across the country and in Kerala. The government has failed to tackle the situation,” Chennithala told TNM.

The novel coronavirus cases in the state have witnessed a huge surge in September, which crossed the 8,000 mark on Wednesday. The state recorded the highest single-day spike on Wednesday, with 8,830 new cases. The UDF on September 28 declared that they will stop the protests on the ground but will continue to oppose the government, through press meets and other modes that follow COVID-19 protocols. 

“The opposition has not stopped the protests, but only changed their mode — from those that would mobilise more party workers, to those that follow the COVID-19 protocol. We don’t want more people on the streets because the cases are increasing, and we thought of avoiding the crowd,” he said.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Health Minister KK Shailaja have accused the Congress-led Opposition of staging protests without following the COVID-19 protocol, and that it led to a huge surge in the COVID-19 cases.

Chennihala, however, refuted the accusation. “We have not violated the protocol. We protested because of the corruption, we have been keeping quiet for months. But don’t take the protocol as a cover for the government’s corruption; we were forced to protest. We continued the protest because of the negative attitude of the government towards it,” he said, adding that this is the first time that a Communist Chief Minister has opposed protests.

“The huge surge is not because of our protests, we staged protests at two or three places only. Three ministers tested positive for coronavirus, was this because of our protest? Many local leaders of the CPI(M) have also tested positive,” he said. The opposition leader's assertion is however questionable as protests were held in many places across the state and with more than 100 people in many instances. Moreover, no physical distancing was maintained, with most protests ending in violence. Many of those who participated in the protests have tested positive for coronavirus.

Chennithala further alleged that the government had used public relations agencies to project that the state was number one in handling the situation. “What happened now?” he asked.

Across the state, Congress, BJP and their youth wing workers had gathered in large numbers to protest seeking the resignation of Jaleel after the minister was quizzed by the Enforcement Directorate and later by the National Investigation Agency.

The Congress, he said, doesn’t have the number of workers who were infected by the virus after taking part in the protests. “We know that two-three people are infected, we don’t know about the rest,” Chennithala said.

The Opposition Leader argued that the infections were due to the general pandemic situation, not the protests, and that even CPI(M) workers have been infected with COVID-19. 

When asked whether the protests could have been held more responsibly, he said, “We were doing that, but then a minister was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate and the NIA and that is when the mode of agitation changed. When more and more revelations started coming up, we went on a warpath."

 

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