Covid-19, Omicron cases rising, cancel Vibrant Gujarat summit: Congress

The Congress on Tuesday demanded the cancellation of Vibrant Gujarat 2022 Summit to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 10 in view of the rise in COVID-19 cases and the Omicron scare.

The opposition party in the state asked if delegations coming from foreign countries to participate in the summit will be quarantined for a week as per Central government rules in place to curb the pandemic.

Cases of COVID-19 are increasing, especially those of its new variant Omicron. In such circumstances, is it necessary to conduct such a show? The summit should be canceled or else it will be a super-spreader event, former Gujarat Congress chief Siddarth Patel said.

Speaking at a programme to mark the Congress' 137th Foundation Day, he said earlier Vibrant Gujarat summits had not brought good results for the state as MoUs of several crore rupees were signed but nothing had materialized nor had people got jobs as promised.

The responsibility of the state government is to save people from falling prey to the pandemic but this government is going about organising events that will further infect people and put them at risk of losing their lives, he said.

For people arriving here from other countries, the Central government has made 7-day quarantine compulsory. Will foreign delegations be quarantined here? If the quarantine rule is strictly followed, no representatives from other countries will come for such a summit, he said.

The Vibrant Gujarat summit is scheduled to be held from January 10 to 12, and state government sources said there was no plan to cancel it at this juncture.

Incidentally, a state government release said Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will participate in the pre Vibrant Gujarat event on the textile sector in Surat on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Gujarat reported an addition of 394 to the COVID-19 tally, while the state currently has 78 cases of the Omicron variant.