Three years ago, on 15 April 2021, the National Taskforce on Covid met for the first time in three months (its previous meeting had been on 11 January).

Cases were now at 216,000 and deaths already over 1,100.

Two days after that, on 17 April, Narendra Modi held what he said was his largest-ever rally in Asansol, with lakhs of people in the audience.

Daily positive cases that day were 260,000 with 1,500 deaths.

Till this time, Modi appeared to be oblivious to the power of exponential growth though the government was warned specifically and severally about an impending second wave. It was only after he returned that evening from Bengal and perhaps internalised the commentary on television of the devastation in Delhi’s hospitals that Modi acted.

The next day, 18 April, Modi cancelled further activity at the Kumbh.

Daily cases were now at 275,000 but it still took another four days for Modi to cancel his rallies in Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum and Kolkata.

He said the rallies would be ‘virtual’. In reality, only the speaker was virtual and appeared on a screen; the crowd still gathered. By now, cases were at 332,000 with 2,200 deaths daily.

The same day that Modi cancelled his rallies, the obliging Election Commission banned rallies for all parties.

In guiding India........

© National Herald