BJP said all its public meetings will be held in open places following all protocols (Representational)
Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, the BJP on Monday said it has decided against holding any big rally or public meeting, including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other party leaders, for the ongoing West Bengal assembly poll campaign.
The decision comes as the party faces flak from rivals over its leaders' big rallies in West Bengal as the Covid tally continues to rise to staggering levels across the country.
The BJP said that breaking the chain of coronavirus infection is much needed in this difficult time and it will leverage its "massive digital footprint" to take the message of its top leaders to the voters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders will be addressing only small public meetings to be attended by 500 people at most, the party said in a statement.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has already cancelled his rallies in West Bengal while the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) president and the state's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that her party will organise small meetings in Kolkata and that she will give short speeches at rallies in districts where polling will be held in the remaining three phases.
The BJP said all its public meetings will be held in open places following all COVID-19 guidelines and that it will distribute six crore masks and sanitisers in the state.
The party asserted that it is also very necessary for the constitutional and democratic obligations to be fulfilled, noting that the assembly polls are underway in the state.
Amid a massive surge in Covid cases, the BJP said the country had earlier overcome big challenges under PM Modi and will do it again.
BJP's IT wing head Amit Malviya, also the party's co-incharge for the state, said the BJP will leverage its "massive digital footprint" and take the message of Modi and other leaders to lakhs of people.
"We did that successfully during Bihar elections, which too was conducted under the cloud of Covid. The opposition had then complained that it gave us an edge," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)