Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dilip Gandhi, a former Union minister, died of Covid-19 at a private hospital in New Delhi in the early hours of Wednesday, March 17. Gandhi, 69, is reported to have come to Delhi tested positive for Covid on Tuesday, and was admitted for treatment at a private hospital. He was put on a ventilator, and reportedly passed away at around 3 AM on Wednesday. Gandhi had served as the Minister of State for Shipping in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led central government.

Saddened by the demise of former MP and Minister Shri Dilip Gandhi Ji. He will be remembered for his rich contributions to community service and helping the poor. He made numerous efforts to strengthen the BJP in Maharashtra. Condolences to his family and supporters. Om Shanti.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 17, 2021

His death comes at a time when the fresh rise in Covid-19 cases in many states across the country has raised concerns, and night curfews have been put in place in many Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh cities. India has registered 28,903 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, and the country’s total Active Caseload stands at 2.34 lakh (2,34,406).  Around 188 deaths were reported on Tuesday, across the country. According to a report in the Indian Express, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may call for  a meeting with chief ministers to discuss the surge.

However, Tirath Singh Rawat the newly appointed Chief Minister of Uttarakhand has already announced his decision to relax Covid-19 restrictions in the state. This is reportedly to boost the devotees' turnout at Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. Rawat has said that the pilgrims will not need to carry Covid-19 negative RT PCR reports. According to multiple news reports, Rawat has said that the devotees “will not be expected to bring a Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) COVID-19 test report while attending the Kumbh Mela, commencing from April 1 to April 30". The Times of India reported that according to the CM, due to earlier restrictions, there was an atmosphere of apprehension in Haridwar that had disturbed the akharas. The ex-CM Trivendra Singh Rawat-led government had released Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) requiring devotees to produce a negative RT-PCR test report. However the new CM has reversed it soon after taking office. 

According to the news report the CM discussed the matter with state officers. “I asked the secretary to respect akharas, shower flowers on them by helicopters, but also let the public come," he said. ''Akharas are taking out processions, and there is no audience because you stopped the people from attending. The public should come, don't stop them.'' Rawat reportedly added that there should be no impediments as Kumbh happens once in 12 years. He said that the only solution was to adhere to the central guidelines to wear masks and use sanitisers. 

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh pointed out the double standards and said that the Central government was allowing lakhs of people to gather in Haridwar for the Kumbh Mela even though there was a rise in Covid-19 cases in the country.

COVID-19 के बड़ते प्रकोप के कारण T20 क्रिकेट मैच देखने पर तो स्टेडियम में आने पर हज़ारों श्रोताओं पर रोक लेकिन कुंभ में लाखों श्रद्धालुओं को उत्तराखंड में छूट!! धन्यवाद।

— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) March 16, 2021

Now  a high-level central team led by Dr S K Singh, Director of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has been deputed to Haridwar in Uttarakhand to review medical care and public health arrangements for Kumbh Mela starting April 1, the Union Health Ministry has announced. The team will focus on the status of the implementation of the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the Kumbh Mela issued by the Ministry of Health in view of implementing Covid-19 preventive measures.

The press information bureau (PIB) has shared that five States -Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue to record a surge in daily new cases. They collectively account for 71.10% of the 28,903 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, stated PIB. These are the graphs shared by PIB:

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