As the poll cauldron in Uttar Pradesh began to simmer and political pundits smelt whiff of ‘change’ in the air, an honourable judge of the Allahabad High Court has suddenly got wary of political rallies amid Covid and “suggested” that the Assembly elections due in just two months from now, may be postponed.The fear that coronavirus, or its new variant Omicron, may spread rapidly through the crowded political rallies suddenly gripped the learned judge during a bail hearing. Apparently, seeing several lawyers in the courtroom not maintaining social distancing and/or wearing masks, it suddenly dawned on Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav that huge public meetings may become super-spreaders of coronavirus.”If rallies are not stopped, results will be worse than the second wave,” Justice Shekhar Yadav said, adding that, “Jaan hai toh Jahaan hai (if there is life, we have the world). Sounds familiar? Well, it was the catchphrase used by PM Modi when he imposed a strict nationwide lockdown on a four-hour notice.Justice Shekhar Yadav also included a paragraph praising the Modi government for the free Covid vaccination programme, and directed the court registrar to send a copy of his order, containing the suggestions, to the Election Commission of India and the Allahabad High Court Registrar-General.Reacting sharply to the insinuation, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav on Friday demanded action against Justice Shekhar for coming up with this “unsolicited” piece of advice.
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