Unrestricted electioneering in bypoll-bound Damoh in Madhya Pradesh led to a spike in COVID-19 cases in the district, with over 100 Congress and BJP leaders testing positive. A day before polling on April 17, the district reported 128 positive cases, the highest one-day surge so far. This is the first time that the positive cases crossing the 100 mark in the district.
Among those who have been infected, apart from Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh, include Congress candidate Ajay Tandon, former minister and Congress in-charge of the bypoll, Brijendra Singh Rathod, district president Manu Mishra, BJP MLA and state general secretary Harishankar Khatik, former MLA K.K. Shrivastav, and Niwari district president Akhilesh Ayachi.
Irrespective of the alarming pandemic situation, there was an uproar in Damoh town on Friday as Congress workers spotted an SUV allegedly with cash kept inside it at the Club House in Shyam Nagar locality. The vehicle carried a Bhopal number plate and had 'MP government' written on it. Congress workers alleged that the vehicle belonged to a minister from Sagar.
Interestingly, despite being COVID-19 positive, Congress candidate Ajay Tandon arrived at the spot and claimed that the saffron party is using money to lure voters. He alleged that more money was kept in a room at a local hotel.
However, the police detained some Congress workers and later said no money was recovered from the vehicle. The Congress said it will lodge a complaint with the Election Commission over the matter.
MP Congress president Kamal Nath also alleged that the BJP was about to distribute the money found in the vehicle and trying to lure voters after finding lack of support among them. He urged the police to respect the uniform and oath and take suitable action.
Nath said voters will not be misled by such rampant use of power and money by the BJP.
Later, BJP state president Vishnu Dutt Sharma accused Congress candidate Ajay Tandon of knowingly spreading COVID-19 among people and resorting to goondaism and misbehaving with a lady police officer while making false accusations against BJP regarding use of money. He said Tandon, with support of a particular group of people, was also trying to create an atmosphere of communal tension in Damoh and urged the Election Commission and district administration to take action against him.
COVID-19 situation
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 situation turned worrying in Damoh during the past few days as the district administration failed to impose any curbs on the electioneering. While 'corona curfew' was imposed in several other cities and towns of the state, no such action was initiated in Damoh. Besides, a tagline of district administration (district election officer) saying 'we will not be afraid of Corona, but will come out and vote' attracted criticism.
Senior leaders of both the BJP and Congress held several public meetings and road shows. It was only on April 14 that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia canceled a road show citing COVID-19 situation. However, just a day earlier, Scindia had held a public meeting. Kamal Nath went ahead with a road show on the same day.
CM Chouhan had visited the constituency and held public meetings several times. Vishnu Dutt Sharma camped in Damoh for a week, holding several mass contact programmes while other senior leaders like Prahlad Singh Patel, Uma Bharti and several Congress leaders too engaged in large-scale electioneering.
On Friday, the district, apart from showing the highest single day spike in cases at 128, also reported 2,988 active COVID-19 cases. From April 1 to 15, a total 625 positive cases have been reported in the district, though the number of deaths remained at just two.
