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It is not just the exodus of ministers and lawmakers that worries Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders. Instead, they fear deep cracks in the Hindu vote bank that they built, brick by brick, since the 1990s and, more aggressively, from 2012.

The BJP’s concern was clearly reflected in state president Swatantra Dev Singh’s tweet on Thursday: “No other government has given the amount of social, political and economic representation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) as the BJP,” he said. He went on to aim a bard at the Samajwadi Party: “For us, P stands for uplifting the pichdon (backwards),” he added. “For others, P stands for the growth of pita, putra and parivar (father, son and family).”

He also said those leaving the party to join the SP were doing so because they were not going to be fielded by the party.

Amid the unprecedented surge in the COVID-19 cases following the emergence of the Omicron variant in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (January 13, 2022) is scheduled to interact with the Chief Ministers of all states at 4:30 pm via video conferencing on the COVID situation.

This is the first meeting of the Prime Minister with the Chief Ministers of all states this year. Last year, PM Modi had held several meetings with chief ministers to discuss the COVID situation. 

PM Modi had also chaired a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the country on January 9. In that review meeting, the prime minister had stressed on the need to ensure adequate health infrastructure at the district level and had directed the officials to maintain coordination regarding this with the states. During the last meeting, PM Modi had said that a meeting with Chief Ministers will be convened to discuss state-specific scenarios, best practices and the public health response.

BMC commissioner Iqbal Chahal has said that vaccination works and civic data shows that 96% of the 1,900-odd patients on oxygen beds in Mumbai have not taken even a single dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, the BMC has decided that unlike the first and second waves where positivity was the benchmark to impose a lockdown or restrictions, in the third wave further curbs would be imposed only if there is a burden of high hospitalisation rate and steep rise in oxygen usage.

“Ninety-six per cent of the patients who are admitted on oxygen beds in 186 hospitals of Mumbai are unvaccinated. Otherwise, we have seen so far that vaccinated people are not reaching ICUs. We have 21 lakh vaccine stock available with us. The current hurdle in ensuring the entire adult population is vaccinated is the 84-day gap required between the two doses.

India is witnessing a “phenomenally high” growth rate in Covid-19 cases with 300 districts recording above 5% weekly positivity rate, up from 78 districts a week ago, officials said. The surge in cases is also evident as more states are reporting high case load, with some including poll bound Uttar Pradesh (14 times), Bihar (11.27 times) and Madhya Pradesh (10.95 times) witnessing an exponential rise in active caseload over last one week.

Endorsing the WHO’s warning, health officials in India urged people to not become complacent and treat Omicron infection as common cold. At present, 19 states have over 10,000 active cases, as against six such states just a week ago. Even in Punjab, active cases are currently 8.65 times the load a week ago, while Rajasthan and Odisha have witnessed more than nine times surge in active cases in a week.

The Bharatiya Janata Party appears unfazed by the exit of a few leaders, including ministers and MLAs, ahead of the February-March assembly polls in five states. According to sources, most of these deserters were likely to be denied tickets and that triggered the defections.

Senior leaders in the party said that the exit of ministers Michael Lobo in Goa and Swami Prasad Maurya in Uttar Pradesh was anticipated and the party’s plans for the forthcoming polls would not be affected by this.

Sources say that in an effort to counter the anti-incumbency factor, the BJP is looking to deny poll nominations to almost a third of its MLAs in both Uttar Pradesh and Goa.