Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday suspended all his impending rallies in West Bengal amid the upsurge of COVID-19 cases in the state and across the nation. Doing so, the Congress leader also urged other political leaders to “think deeply” over the consequences of holding public rallies in the current scenario.

Taking to Twitter, Rahul Gandhi said, “In view of the Covid situation, I am suspending all my public rallies in West Bengal. I would advise all political leaders to think deeply about the consequences of holding large public rallies under the current circumstances.”

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This comes amid the uncontrollable rise in the COVID-19 cases in India, as on Saturday, over 261,000 new infections were recorded across the nation. Over 1,500 people died across the country from the COVID-19 disease. 

Several states have said that are running short of beds for COVID patients, while a shortage of remdesivir injections and oxygen has also been reported. 

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The rallies by political leaders, including that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ahead in West Bengal amid the ongoing assembly elections in the state have drawn sharp criticism, as people are attending the events en masse, rarely following the COVID guidelines.