Madhupur, the sub divisional town of Deoghar District that remained the centre-stage of state politics due to the assembly by-poll held on April 17, is now reeling under the second wave of Covid 19 virus.
Madhupur, the part of Deoghar district witnessed an intense electoral battle between JMM’s Hafizul Hasan and BJP’s Ganga Narayan Singh.
Right from chief minister Hemant Soren, JMM patriarch Shibu Soren to other senior leaders of the Congress and the BJP had pitched their tent to claim this seat.
But despite lurking fear of Covid 19 the by-poll recorded a turnout of 76. 61 per cent
The election was held at a time when the cases of Covid 19 were on rise across Jharkhand. As per the health department report, by April 22, Deoghar had a total of 5398 cases. So far 4443 patients have recovered and 28 lost their life. On Thursday 459 new cases were reported.
“Earlier, among districts of Santhal pargana division, Dumka was leading with maximum number of cases and now Deoghar has topped the list. People ignored Covid 19 related protocols too lightly. There was an election also…rallies and campaigning was going on. I did not find people in the rallies and campaigning wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. But you should not blame politics and politicians only,” said Anand Kumar Jaisawal, a local resident.
As many as 11 jawans of Jharkhand Police deployed on election duty were tested positive. Some of the polling staff were also tested positive. For instance, at booth number 206, the presiding officer was tested positive.
Not only common people and cops, even politicians who campaigned in Madhupur contracted Covid 19 virus. BJP’s Koderma MP Annapurna Devi along with four of the BJP MLAs namely Navin Jaisawal, Amar Kumar Bauri, Raj Sinha and Indrajdeet Mahto were tested positive to the virus.
Mahto became critical to an extent that he was airlifted to Hyderabad for better treatment at Yashoda Hospital where he is being treated by noted pulmonologist Dr Apar Jindal. Jindal had conducted lung transplant surgery upon state HRD minister Jagarnath Mahto.
Health department has launched a special testing drive across the state and Deoghar that district administration is carrying out a testing drive at a large scale. Local residents said that the highest spike is also because of the reasons that maximum numbers of people are being tested.