West Bengal Assembly polls | BJP decides to stop large rallies, restricts crowds to 500

The party said the smaller public meetings would be held in open spaces and with COVID-19 guidelines in place.

April 19, 2021 09:20 pm | Updated April 20, 2021 08:06 am IST - New Delhi

BJP national president J.P. Nadda. File

BJP national president J.P. Nadda. File

The BJP on Monday decided to stop holding large rallies, gatherings and meetings for the West Bengal Assembly elections, capping attendance at 500 due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

In a statement, the party said BJP president Jagat Prasad Nadda had decided that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other central leaders of the party would address only small public meetings and no more than 500 people would be allowed to attend.

The party said the smaller public meetings would be held in open spaces and with COVID-19 guidelines in place. The party had set a target of distribution of 6 crore masks and sanitisers in West Bengal, it said.

The party asserted that it is also very necessary for the constitutional and democratic obligations to be fulfilled, noting that the assembly polls are underway in the state.

Amid a massive surge in the COVID cases, the BJP said the country had earlier overcome big challenges under Mr. Modi and will do it again.

BJP's IT wing head Amit Malviya, also the party's co-incharge for the state, said the BJP will leverage its "massive digital footprint" and take the message of Modi and other leaders to lakhs of people.

"We did that successfully during Bihar elections, which too was conducted under the cloud of Covid. The opposition had then complained that it gave us an edge," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)

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