BY Vijayendra's appointment: Senior BJP leader CT Ravi says he too is haunted by questions
Bengaluru, Oct 11: With BJP facing "dynasty politics" criticism, following the appointment of veteran leader B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra as its Karnataka unit president, party's senior leader C T Ravi on Saturday tried to dodge related questions, and in a cryptic remark said he too is being haunted by certain "questions".
The BJP on Friday appointed Vijayendra, the younger son of Yediyurappa, as its state unit president. He was earlier state vice president of the party.
The names of Ravi, who has in the past served as BJP's national general secretary, and Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje, were earlier doing the rounds for the post.
"I have conveyed my congratulations to Vijayendra. This is not power, this is a responsibility. This responsibility is not something that is taken by asking for it...I'm not an aspirant for any post, and in the last two and half decades I have not asked for any post, but have fulfilled the responsibility given to me by the party," Ravi said, in response to a question about him being upset.
Speaking to reporters he said, "When I have not asked for the post there is no question of being upset or disgruntled."
The party has given the responsibility to Vijayendra to strengthen the organisation and ensure good results in upcoming Lok Sabha polls and other elections in the future, he said, adding that, "I wish him the best and we will all work together in this direction."
The appointment of 47-year-old Vijayendra, who is the first time MLA from Shikaripura in Shivamogga district, just ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is significant, as the new president will have responsibility of galvanising the party after the drubbing in assembly polls held in May.
To a question on Vijayendra's appointment being seen as dynasty politics, against which he and PM Narendra Modi have repeatedly spoken in the past, Ravi said, "If I speak anything about this, there are chances of attaching a wrong meaning to it. You (media) will show my earlier video, and you may connect it to different things. I don't want to comment on it in this situation. It is haunting me as questions, in the same way, it is haunting you. It is a question that I too have."
"There are certain questions that are haunting me too, as we (in BJP) have grown in a certain mold...I have never thought against party interest and will never do it...If I say something it will become hot news for you. I have never tried to hurt feelings when the celebrations are on," he said cryptically.
Asked if the BJP now had the moral authority to criticise Congress for dynasty politics after this appointment, he said, "It will not be appropriate to discuss the questions in the minds of a karyakartas like me, in public."
Stating that he will work as a partyman in ensuring Prime Minister Modi-led government comes back to power once again, and there is no question of getting disturbed from it, Ravi said, "Regarding my personal politics, I'm not a Sanyasi, personal politics is after 2024 Lok Sabha polls, until then it is politics of national interest, aimed at bringing back Modi government."
Asked about loyal party workers not being considered for the post of party president, he said, who is right for which post and should be appointed at what time is decided by the party, and should not be discussed in front of media.
Though there are some murmurs in the state BJP circles that some seniors in the party are upset about Vijayendra's appointment as state unit chief, none have come out and made their disgruntlement public.
Senior legislators like Basangouda Patil Yatnal and V Somanna, who have been at loggerheads with Yediyurappa in the past, too have not made any comments regarding the appointment. However, there are some media reports stating that both leaders have congratulated Vijayendra over the phone.
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Excess deaths during COVID-19 in line with pre-2020 trend, says govt sources citing data
New Delhi, May 10 (PTI): India's cumulative excess mortality for 2020-2021 was 9.3 per cent higher than expected deaths, a figure which was lower than that of the US, Italy and Russia, official sources said, referring to the latest Civil Registration System (CRS) data.
Sources pointed out that the number of deaths documented in the CRS has been increasing over time, even in the years preceding the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, they said.
The excess mortality is the additional number of deaths, due to all causes during a crisis such as COVID-19, above the number of deaths expected to be reported during "normal" conditions.
The annual increment observed in a given year, compared to the previous year, has varied from 1.3 per cent in 2016 to 9.93 per cent in 2019, with the average increase over three preceding years (2016 to 2019) estimated at 6.42 per cent per annum.
The annual secular increase in deaths registered in CRS can be attributed to several reasons, including a larger population cohort, maturing reporting processes and increased awareness of the need for registration, leading to higher registration levels, sources said.
The annual secular increase is the long-term, consistent increase in deaths over a year.
This trend has been further accentuated over the years by the mandatory requirements for death certificates linked to pension schemes, social security benefits, and property issues. Besides, COVID-19 death compensation required death certification, prompting registration under CRS, the sources stated.
"Our teams conducted preliminary analyses of CRS data to assess cumulative excess deaths in the years 2020 and 2021," an official source said.
Based on the three-year (2016-19), annual rate of increase of 6.42 per cent mentioned above, the expected number of deaths would be 81,31,869 in 2020 and 86,54,185 in 2021.
However, the observed deaths were 81,15,882 in 2020 and 1,02,24,506 in 2021.
The excess deaths, defined as observed minus expected deaths, were (-)15,987 and 15,70,321, respectively, the source said.
"Thus, the total excess deaths over the two-year period amounted to 15,54,334. As a percentage, this is 9.3 per cent higher than the expected deaths. This translates into about 1,249 excess deaths per one million population," the source said.
It must be emphasised that excess deaths in these years are not equal to COVID-19 direct deaths, the source underlined.
These excess deaths include reported COVID-19 deaths (4,81,080 by the end of 2021), unreported COVID-19 deaths, deaths due to all other causes, and possible indirect effects of COVID-19.
"To benchmark these estimates, subject to more nuanced future analyses, we compared cumulative excess deaths in India for 2020 and 2021 with those of selected countries that provide publicly available data on excess mortality during the same period," the source said.
Excess mortality in high-income countries, expressed as a percentage higher than the expected mortality, was found to be 17.6 per cent in the US, 11.8 per cent in Italy, 11.6 pcer cent in the UK, 29.9 per cent in Russia, 6.7% in France, 5.3 per cent in Germany, and 5.2% in Canada.
Excess mortality in middle-income countries was 43.6% in Mexico and 12.6% in Brazil. The corresponding figure for India was 9.3%, as stated above.
"When expressed differently, India's 1,249 excess deaths per one million were much lower than in the USA (3,021 per million), Italy (2,573), the UK (1,874), France (1,281), Russia (7,240), Mexico (5,217), and Brazil (1,820), but somewhat higher than that of Canada (825) and Germany (1,214)," the source said.
In the past, reports of exorbitantly high excess deaths in India during 2020 and 2021, based on modelling methodology, have emerged in the public domain, sources said.
A WHO report estimated India's excess deaths at 47 lakhs. Another report in a top journal cited a figure of about 41 lakh excess deaths in this period.
The CRS data of the actually counted deaths at a high reporting rate, after accounting for secular increase, yield a much lower estimate of 15,54,334, as elaborated above.
"India mounted a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response to the pandemic emergency. The strategy comprised five science-driven tools: testing, suppressing chains of transmission, clinical care, safe behaviour, and vaccination.
"The virus was ultimately defeated by the made-in-India vaccines, with over 220 crore doses administered in the world's largest vaccination program," another official source said.
Of these, as many as 145 crore doses were administered in 2021 alone. It has been reported in the Lancet that the COVID-19 vaccination program in Bharat in 2021 itself saved 34 lakh lives, the source said.
The Civil Registration System (CRS) in India is a compulsory, independent, and universal system for recording all births and deaths under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. These events are reported to the local registrar, based on which each state generates its respective report.
The collated data from state reports are published as the annual vital statistics report by the Registrar General of India (RGI).
