West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will skip the virtual meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today to discuss the Covid-19 situation with state Chief Ministers, as the country is witnessing a sharp spike in daily Covid-19 cases.

Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay is likely to attend the meeting in place of the chief minister.

Banerjee’s decision to skip the Covid-19 meet with PM Modi comes in the backdrop of ongoing assembly elections in West Bengal in which her ruling Trinamool Congress party (TMC) is engaged in a fierce battle with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Voting for 294-member assembly elections is underway in West Bengal. It is taking place in eight phases and three phases have already taken place. It will conclude on April 29 and the counting will take place on May 2.

Earlier this week, the prime minister also chaired a high-level meeting to review the Covid vaccination program in the country.

Modi had said the five-fold strategy of testing, tracing, treatment, COVID-appropriate behaviour and vaccination, if implemented with utmost seriousness and commitment, would be effective in curbing the spread of the pandemic, according to an official statement that was released after the meeting.

India registered a record single-day spike of 1,26,789 new COVID-19 cases, pushing its infection tally to 1,29,28,574, while the number of active cases too went upwards to breach the nine lakh mark again, Union Health Ministry data showed.