Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is perhaps the first leader to call upon people to prepare to live with the Coronavirus. People are trying to survive the onslaught of the virus by taking various precautions like wearing masks and keeping social distance. At this juncture, a responsible Chief Minister asking people who approached him to remove masks before posing for photos looks bizarre. Such actions which go against Covid protocol would surely send a wrong message to the wider population.
YS Jagan landed at Renigunta airport on Wednesday (Sept 23) to visit Tirumala for presentation of Silk Vastrams to Lord Venkateswara on the occasion of Brahmotsavam. On his arrival, Srikalahasti MLA B Madhusudan Reddy along with his daughter welcomed him and posed for photographs. The father-daughter duo followed the corona protocol by wearing masks and maintaining physical distance. They wore masks even while posing for photos. The Chief Minister noticed the duo and asked them to remove masks during the photo session. This public violation of Covid norms by the Chief Minister has sent a wrong signal among people.
Nowadays, leaders themselves are insisting that those coming to meet them should wear masks and keep physical distance, but asking people to remove masks is not an ideal behavior for a leader, especially a Chief Minister.
Madhusudan Reddy who gathered people in large numbers and participated in a slew of relief programmes during lockdown, caught Coronavirus and was hospitalized. Realizing his mistake, the MLA took precautionary measures like wearing a mask, only to be removed by the Chief Minister himself.
