Covid-19: The Curious Case Of West Bengal

With low testing and the highest Covid-19 mortality rate in the country, West Bengal could be staring at a public health disaster. THE WEEK takes a look at how things came to a head in the state

- Rabi Banerjee

IN A MESS West bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee

On March 19, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Janata Curfew to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, West Bengal seemed preoccupied with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and its attendant politics. Though Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not object to Modi’s decision, many shops remained open on March 22, the day of the curfew. The same day, Banerjee declared a lockdown in West Bengal till March 27, signalling that the state would decide on all pandemic-related measures.

At the time, both Banerjee and the state BJP were chalking out plans for next year’s assembly elections. While many BJP leaders were slated to visit the state, Banerjee was preparing to head to north Bengal, where her party was routed in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She was banking on the anti-CAA sentiment in the state, and her new strategist, Prashant Kishor, was keenly monitoring the situation.

Elsewhere, a storm was brewing. As Covid-19 cases started increasing in March, many factories across the country began releasing workers and shutting down. Amid the panic and chaos, a large number of Bengalis had to return home. “There was no way I could stay there (Kerala),” said Tofajjal Sheikh, a young man from Lalgola in Murshidabad. “I was working in an agro-farm near Kasargod. My employer asked me to go back home as many other employees were also running a fever. I came to Lalgola on March 12.”