Key Points:
- West Bengal has started issuing Vaccine Certificates with the photograph of Ms. Banerjee, on Wheels where a Bus has been converted into a Mobile Vaccination Centre.
- So far, the vaccination certificates have had the picture of PM Modi and that move was heavily criticised by the Trinamool Congress as well as CM Mamta Banerjee herself.
- The BJP and the TMC have been on the opposites on almost all the major issues after TMC won the Bengal elections singlehandedly.
India is almost at a point where the third wave of COVID-19 is to hit the nation and this time the younger individuals, plus the vaccination drive is the largest but has hit the scarcity button but amidst this, the more important topic the political parties find is ‘Whose Picture is to be printed on the Vaccination Certificate?’
Last time, it was PM Modi’s image that was being printed on the Vaccine Certificate and this time, it is West Bengal’s CM Mamata Banerjee on the go.
It was TMC in West Bengal after Chhattisgarh removed the picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the certificates, started issuing its own certificate with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s photograph on them.
West Bengal has started issuing Vaccine Certificates with the photograph of Ms. Banerjee, on Wheels where a Bus has been converted into a Mobile Vaccination Centre.
This certificate will be given out to people who get inoculated under the third phase of vaccination carried out by state-run facilities and will be issued only to the age group of 18-44 years.
Along with the picture, the certificate has the slogan in both Bengali and English : “Be Alert, Be Safe.”
So far, the vaccination certificates have had the picture of PM Modi and that move was heavily criticised by the Trinamool Congress as well as CM Mamta Banerjee herself.
TMC did not just stop to this but also wrote a letter to the Election Commission and alleged that the use of PM Modi’s photograph on vaccination certificates had violated the model code of conduct during the elections.
Responses to the Move:
- BJP State spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “The Trinamool Congress wants to project that the place that our Prime Minister holds in our parliamentary democracy can be replaced by the Chief Minister.”
- Minister and chairperson of Board of Administrators Kolkata Municipal Corporation Firhad Hakim defended the latest move saying that there is nothing wrong in having photographs of the head of State on certificates.
The BJP and the TMC have been on the opposites on almost all the major issues before the elections as well as after TMC won the Bengal elections singlehandedly.
