In the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, political parties across the board have suspended activities in West Bengal and have asked their activists to take precautions and generate awareness to prevent the spread of the disease.
An 18-year-old youth, who recently returned to Kolkata from England, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, making it the first confirmed case in the state.
Ruling Trinamool Congress, opposition BJP, Congress and the CPI(M) have suspended all political gatherings and meetings for the time being.
"All major programmes and gatherings have been suspended for the time being. At present, we are meeting people but fewer in numbers and are always taking precautions," TMC secretary-general and state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said.
CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra said the party has cancelled all its scheduled rallies, marches and programmes.
"We have told our party leaders not to conduct any major rally, march or programme. All the events that demand mass gathering have been cancelled," Mishra told reporters.
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The novel coronavirus threat has forced the BJP and Congress to cancel their events scheduled in the next few days and scale down their activities.
Party offices, however, continued to function.
Leaders of the political parties also continued to hold small meetings and media briefings.
The coronavirus outbreak has thrown a spanner in the campaign plans of the political parties for the upcoming municipal polls in the state, which too has been postponed due to the pandemic.