what if? This query has been haunting 25-year-old Ajay Rohit, an engineering graduate for the previous 15 days.
What would have occurred if he had stopped his 58-year-old authorities trainer Brijlal Ahirwar from reporting for election responsibility in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh? “My father wished that the assembly by-election be postponed. But he also believed that he would not get Kovid as he was given all PPE kits, ”mentioned Rohit.
Ahirwar returned from his work after voting on April 17, two days later he had fever and died on May 5 within the district hospital. A day later, his 51-year-old spouse Pyari Bai, who was rushed to the hospital after a optimistic take a look at, additionally died.
In a chilling recap of Kovid’s decline from panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh that month, the Damoh administration listed Ahirwal as one of many 17 authorities academics who succumbed to the virus after becoming a member of byelection responsibility.
“We have so far received applications from 24 teachers who, after being put on election duty, prima facie succumbed to Kovid. Six of these were actively involved while others were engaged in allied work. So far, we have identified 17 teachers dying of the virus. We are verifying other applications to be sent to the Election Commission for compensation, ”mentioned District Collector Krishna Chaitanya.
Last October, Congress MLA Rahul Lodhi needed to endure a by-election in Damoh attributable to becoming a member of the BJP. Lodhi was among the many 26 Congress MLAs who switched sides however did so when the BJP toppled Kamal Nath’s Congress authorities within the state.
The election marketing campaign was heated up with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Nath, who’s now the state Congress chief, amongst many leaders together with Jyotiraditya Scindia, Digvijay Singh, Uma Bharti and Union Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel, doing highway exhibits and holding public conferences Were addressing .
The impact was seen. On 1 April, Damoh had 11 new circumstances and 116 lively circumstances, with a complete caseload of three,100 and 93 deaths. On April 16, caseload elevated to three,774. Nevertheless, Damoh was the one district to be excluded from statewide Kovid restrictions imposed in city areas from 7 April. The ban got here into drive within the district on April 19, two days after the voting.
By then, it was too late, as a sequence of political leaders started to check optimistic.
* Congress candidate Ajay Tandon, who received the election on 15 April, examined optimistic. On the identical day Scindia and Chauhan minimize their marketing campaign brief.
* On 19 April, Congress’s by-election incharge Brajendra Singh Rathore examined optimistic and died on 2 May.
* On April 29, State President Mandvi Chauhan of Congress Mahila Morcha returned to Bhopal with fever from Damoh died. “She was taking all precautions, using sanitized cars and maintaining social distance. She herself went to the hospital but could not come out alive, ”mentioned Vikram Chauhan, his son.
There had been extra. Martande Singh of the Seva Dal succumbed to the virus. Congress councilor Ashish Patel misplaced his brother and father and occasion’s district vice-president Lal Chandrai misplaced his spouse.
According to BJP’s Damoh district president Pritam Lodhi, there are a minimum of six native BJP leaders – former district president Dev Narayan Srivastava, Hemraj Rathod, former district president of Kisan Morcha Kishori Patel, sarpanch Hemraj Rathod, Bina Nagar president Anita Khatik and Yuva Morcha leaders. Sandeep Panthi – succumbed to virus after by-elections.
On May 19, Damoh had 43 new circumstances and 1,375 lively circumstances, with a complete of seven,465 and 130 deaths.
According to the state’s Kovid Bulletin, Damoh recorded solely three deaths as of April 20 and May 17. Madhya Pradesh Government Teachers Association (GTA) state president Arif Anjum and Congress’s Damoh district chief Manu Mishra have questioned the official toll. .
“There was a three-day training program for teachers, which was attended by hundreds of people. Many people contracted the virus from there. We found that at least 26 teachers had died of Kovid due to their involvement in election related duties. But initially, the state recognized only six. Now they are looking at other people who have contracted the virus through this training, ”mentioned Anjum.
Mishra, who was hospitalized throughout the marketing campaign along with his spouse and son after a optimistic take a look at, mentioned he has began getting ready a listing of Congress staff who died attributable to Kovid after the by-elections. “At least 17 party workers have been killed in one block. We will get the complete list in a few days, ”mentioned Mishra.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
