PM MODI TO ADDRESS NATION TONIGHT; LOCKDOWN EXTENSION LIKELY

PM Narendra Modi

            A day after holding a marathon six-hour meeting with chief ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation today at 8 pm, a media report said. The prime minister is likely to speak on what to expect once the third phase of lockdown expires on May 17. Speculations are rife that the Prime Minister is going to announce extension of the lockdown to 4 during the public address. At Monday’s meeting, several states including Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana and West Bengal wanted the lockdown extended further. While others wanted further easing of restrictions and more say in which districts fall under red, orange and green zones. Some states, including Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu, had reservations on allowing inter-state transport, be it rail or air, and wanted to be consulted before a decision is taken. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in fact, said starting rail services “was a mistake” and that his opinion should have been taken since he was a “former Railways Minister”. At the end of the meeting, PM Modi asked chief ministers to share a broad strategy on how they would want to deal with the lockdown regime in their particular states by May 15.