The differences between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee over imposing strict COVID-19 restrictions in the state have come out in the open.
While Banerjee kept the restrictions very liberally despite the surge in cases and allowed events like the Gangasagar Mela on Makar Sankranti, Abhishek is of the opinion that all religious and political congregations should be banned in the state. He even said that he was "perturbed" at what was happening.
"The situation is very bad across the country and there should be no religious or political meetings," Abhishek said.
Scores of monks have gathered at Gangasagar from different states without even wearing the masks. Mamata, however, does not want to hurt the religious sentiments and allowed the event. Nearly five lakh people assemble at Gangasagar every year on Makar Sankranti.
Abhishek has asked the administration to arrest people who do not follow Covid protocol. Following his strong stand, police have started picking up maskless-people in Kolkata.
Banerjee, however, is not in favour of taking such harsh measures. She had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a recent video conference that she could not stop the running of economy as the state is reeling under acute funds crisis. Banerjee has also refused to stop local train services, close markets or even to impose micro-level lockdowns.
"She is extremely unhappy with a section of the administration launching massive crackdown without her permission," said a senior state government official.
West Bengal reported around 24,000 new COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths on Sunday. The rising number of deaths worries the officials as it negates the impression that the third wave would be mild comparing to the second wave.
Most of the deaths reported on Sunday are from Kolkata and North 24 Parganas. The total number of COVID-19 deaths in the state is just nine short of 20,000 as on Sunday. Officials admit that the actual figure would be more than double of the official figure. The main reason behind the unrecorded deaths is lack of amenities in North Bengal. People died there without even being tested during the first wave.
Albeit administratively, the differences between Banerjee and Abhishek have added new twist to the Bengal politics.
