PM Narendra Modi's public presence during two Covid-19 pandemic waves

The lowest point in India’s coronavirus infection curve came on February 11, 2021. By then, most activities in the country were open in an almost unrestricted manner. Ten days into this, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) passed a resolution saying the country had defeated Covid under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During these 10 days, however, the weekly average of new Covid-19 cases was up 16 per cent from the February 11 low. Deaths were up 5 per cent.

Three weeks later, the test positivity rate was moving north. From the comfortable range of 1 to 2 per cent, it was near 4 per cent now (March 19, 2021). It went beyond 7 per cent when April began. By the middle of April, India was clocking more than 350,000 new cases and 2,500 deaths a day.

Three charts look back at the Prime Minister’s engagements through the two Covid waves and series of lockdowns since March 2020.

Chart 1: Shows the PM stepped up review meetings from the second half of April 2021, more than a month after the second wave began.


 

Modi chaired five meetings on Covid preparedness, vaccination and states’ consultation between December 2020 and March 2021. After April 13, 2021, the meetings on the surge in cases, oxygen availability, intensive care unit (ICU) beds and vaccination gathered pace. During the first wave, review meetings were consistent. Modi had chaired 5-7 official meetings every month from March-June 2020.

Chart 2: Shows Modi made more public appearances as India transitioned from the first Covid wave to the second.

 

Modi made 82 public appearances — physical as well as virtual — in the seven-month period from March to September 2020. In the next four months, he made 111 such appearances. From February to April 25, 2021, he clocked 92 public appearances.

This was followed by 20 days of public absence, the longest since Covid-19 began.

Chart 3: Shows election rallies occupied a lion’s share of public appearances.

 

While Modi talked about Covid-19 almost on a regular basis since the pandemic began, his public appearances were the highest during the Assembly elections. Not so when the pandemic was in its worst phase (mid-April to mid-May, 2021).