Current affairs

TN CM EPS makes a big promise for the people: Is he trying to echo BJP?

By alagu, 22 October, 2020
India, Tamilnadu, Chennai, COVID-19, BJP

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has, on Thursday, said that the people will be given the COVID-19 vaccine free of cost once the vaccine gets ready in the state. In what has become a significant measure to curb the virus and treat the virus-affected patients in the state, the Chief Minister has made the announcement while speaking at an event in Pudukottai district. 

He said that the Tamil Nadu government will give the vaccine to everyone free as soon as it gets ready. His announcement has come at a high time when the state has been reporting a decline of COVID-19 cases and when the nation has been under the process of unveiling the potential and indigenous vaccine to treat and cure the patients affected by the pandemic. 

According to reports, the nation has been waiting for a safe and effective vaccine against the novel coronavirus and the Central government strongly expects that a vaccine will be ready for sale in India as early as December if it goes by planned and if clinical trials are successful. The reports say that currently, three vaccine candidates are at different phases of trial in the country. 

Of these three, two are indigenous vaccine candidates - Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and ZyCoV-D by Zydus Cadila have already started the phase II of the clinical trial and the remaining one is Covishield, which has been developed by the University of Oxford and it has recently commenced the phase III clinical trial in the country. Global vaccine maker AstraZeneca has signed a deal with the Serum Institute of India to manufacture Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine candidate for India and low-income countries. 

Earlier, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said, "We are expecting that we should have a vaccine in the country early next year and our expert groups are formulating strategies to plan on how to roll out the distribution of the vaccine in the country". The announcement from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has come amidst such developments and when the state is nearing to hit the COVID-19 tally of 7 lakh positive cases so far. 

The announcement from the Chief Minister has also come on the same day when the BJP had drawn nationwide flak and outrage after it had announced that it would give free COVID-19 vaccine for the people of Bihar if it comes to power again. Bihar is just a week away from the state assembly polls and on Thursday, the Central ruling party had released the election manifesto in which it had mentioned free COVID-19 vaccine as the poll promise and assured that it would give a free vaccine if people elect the party to power. 

While the opposition leaders had staunchly attacked the BJP for mixing politics in the COVID-19 vaccine, the announcement of a free vaccine from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had drawn attention with the speculations of whether the state ruling ADMK is mulling to make free COVID-19 vaccine as a poll promise of the party as Tamil Nadu is just months away from the assembly polls. 

With having COVID-19 vaccine on the fray of national priorities, it becomes inevitable that the factor would bring the political parties under fire and public scrutiny if the state political parties tend to announce the free COVID-19 vaccine as the poll promise. According to reports, if Tamil Nadu develops the vaccine after the election, the ruling party at that time will be deciding on distributing the vaccine free of cost. 

Though the announcement of the Chief Minister has become a significant measure, it also has raised speculations that whether the Chief Minister would go for people or would echo BJP's plan in Bihar in making the COVID-19 vaccine as the poll promise for the upcoming Tamil Nadu legislative polls. 

 

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