COVID-19 vaccines seem to have become a new carrot for elections. A day after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) announced free vaccination for all adults in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised the same, triggering reactions from the TMC.
Last year, too, during the Bihar election campaign in October, when the first COVID wave was at its peak, the BJP had promised free vaccination for the people of Bihar, where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and the BJP are in an alliance.
The BJP on Friday, 23 April, tweeted saying, "As soon as BJP government comes to power in West Bengal, COVID-19 vaccine will be provided free of cost to everyone."