Political Debate for free corona vaccine in Bihar election

Posted on 23rd Oct 2020 by rohit kumar

You may have no idea of ​​the total number of patients of Corona in Bihar, nor know how many people have died in the state from Corona till now.

 

But it is so sure that by now the news of getting the vaccine free will have reached you.

 

Corona vaccine will be free for Biharis. This is part of the election resolution letter of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced this by issuing a resolution letter in Patna. Since then, BJP has been accused of politicizing the Corona epidemic.

 

The outbreak of the Corona epidemic continues in the world. There is talk of the second and third waves of corona throughout Europe. Elections were held in many countries during this period.

 

But vaccination was excluded from elections. The latest example is of America's election. Voting is scheduled to take place there on 3 November. But even in America, the Trump government has not made any such announcement.

 

In such a situation, politics has started with the BJP's promise of free corona vaccine in the assembly elections of one state of India.

 

Parties target central government

 

The main opposition party of Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, has tweeted from its official Twitter handle, "Corona vaccine belongs to the country, not BJP! The political use of the vaccine shows that they have no choice but to sell their fear of disease and death. No, Bihari is self-respecting, does not sell his children's future in a small amount. "

 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote, "The Government of India has announced the distribution of the Covid vaccine. To know when you will get the vaccine and false promises, please check the date of your state elections."

 

Similarly, leaders of other parties like Omar Abdullah, Sitaram Yechury, Akhilesh Yadav have also questioned the BJP's resolve.

 

Seeing the matter growing, BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav even compared the Free Corona vaccine in an interview to the Indian Express with the announcement of the loan waiver of farmers.

 

Amit Malviya, the head of BJP's IT cell wrote on Twitter, "The BJP's manifesto promises a free corona vaccine. Under the rest of the central program, the Indian government will make the vaccine available to every state at a nominal rate. It is up to the state governments. Whether they want to make the vaccine available to the people of the state for free or find other options. The subject of health is subject to the states. Bihar BJP has decided to give it free of cost. This is the case. "

 

State Governments Feedback

 

Amit Malviya was late to say, different state governments started reacting to the issue of free corona vaccine in Bihar elections. The Tamil Nadu government promised a free vaccine months before the election.

 

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel made two tweets called #vaccinlectionism and said that the announcement made for Bihar suggests that the vaccine will not be free for the remaining states.

 

In response to the ruling party Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Sanjay Raut has said that first it is said that you kill me, I will give you freedom. Now it is being said that you vote for me, I will give you the vaccine. this is not right. Politics is not good on the vaccine issue.

 

In Delhi, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party has tweeted and asked that in those states where BJP is not in power?

 

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has said that the poor people in his state, who will not be able to afford the vaccine, will be provided a free corona vaccine. There is a BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.

 

Karnataka, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and Odisha have said that this issue will be discussed in the meeting on the vaccine issue.

 

But till now, no political party has said to knock on the door of the Election Commission or the court on the issue till the report is written.

 

Election Commission Rules

 

Rules have been made for the manifesto issued during the election from the Election Commission, which has been considered as part of the Election Code of Conduct.

 

In this list, Section 8 reads, "The law is clear that the promises in the Election Manifesto cannot be considered as 'corrupt behavior' under Section 123 of the Representation Act, but this fact is not dismissed. People may be influenced in elections by the tradition of distributing things for free. It shakes the roots of free and fair elections. "

 

So can the Election Commission take any action on the election promise of the Free Corona vaccine?

 

The question to former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat. He said, "The rules simply say that if there is a declaration of free distribution in this way, then the two questions would have been asked whether the resource party has it to do so and whether the provision can be made in the budget." If the answer to both these questions is yes, then the Election Commission cannot take any action in it. The lack of resources in the existing provisions for free declarations is considered a violation of the code of conduct, says the order of the Supreme Court. "

 

This means that since the state government has the right to make rules on the subject of health, the state governments can make a provision in the budget to distribute the corona vaccine for free.

 

In such a situation, the question will arise whether there is money to buy the vaccine in the treasure of Bihar and what the state government decides.

 

Morality question

This is a matter of election commission rules. But some people are calling this declaration unethical.

 

RJD has said that people are trying to ask for votes by showing fear of corona. People are also writing on social media that the vaccine is not known yet, when it will come, how many doses will be taken, so how can these things be included in the election promise beforehand?

 

Talked to virologist Doctor T Jacob John about this. Dr. T. Jacob is a retired professor of virology at John Christian Medical College Vellore.

 

He says, "As soon as an effective vaccine comes to the market, it is registered and becomes a human rights issue. It is the right of every human being. If during the election season, a party says that you vote for me, I will give you your right (vaccine) for free, so it means that you do not have your rights and your price is your vote. It makes sense if there is a gift. "

 

Preventing any epidemic is considered the responsibility of every government. This applies not only to India but to every democratic country of the world. Therefore, to prevent corona in India, the central and state governments took steps at their level.

 

The Government of India worked for the eradication of polio, for this reason, the vaccination program of TB is being run only for this reason.

 

Doctor John says, "The number of national vaccination programs that are being run in India is free. It should be expedited in the context of the epidemic."

 

So how does it decide which disease will be vaccinated at the national level?

 

In response to this question, he says, "The central government decides about this. They are helped by the technical committee on immunization of the Ministry of Health. Corona vaccination campaign will be conducted at the national level, they will also have to decide "Once the central government announces this vaccination campaign at the national level, everything from the purchase of vaccine, storage, distribution will be the responsibility of the center."