CM to chair all-party meeting to chart Kerala’s pandemic response
The Hindu
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had hinted at Kerala being in the long haul for an extended period of curbs, urging people to postpone unessential events “for at least a month”.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will chair an all-party meeting on April 26 to chart Kerala’s COVID-19 response. The meeting will weigh in on whether weekend curbs should be extended to other days to slow the spread of the infection. Political parties will try to reach a general agreement on the future course of action. Ahead of the video conference at noon, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said the United Democratic Front (UDF) was against a State-wide lockdown. Such a drastic measure would affect livlihood and dent the economy, he said.With the clock ticking down to the Lok Sabha election counting day on Tuesday, opposing fronts are perceptibly edgy and poised to continue the rancorous skirmishing that marked the campaign season in Kerala. The United Democratic Front, led by the Congress, is seemingly basking in the “interim victory” granted by various exit polls. The UDF discerns that its poll strategy of turning the polls foremostly into a damning referendum on the Left Democratic Front government’s perceived failures rather than BJP’s “divisive politics” at the national level stood a fighting chance of paying off.