Uttarakhand HC asks EC, Centre whether election rallies, voting can be held online

The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission as well as the Centre whether election rallies, as well as the voting process, could be held online. The HC has asked the latter to respond by January 12, which is the date for the next hearing.

Nainital:The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission as well as the Centre whether election rallies, as well as the voting process, could be held online. The HC has asked the latter to respond by January 12, which is the date for the next hearing.

The matter was heard by a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma.

The hearing comes after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the HC earlier, seeking postponement of both elections and rallies in the wake of increasing COVID count in the state.

The petitioner also alleged that the state administration was not updating the COVID numbers on its portal, even as both COVID, as well as omicron numbers, were rising in the state. The petitioner also said the government was not following the COVID 19 SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).

The Election Commission, during the hearing, noted that elections are near and such facilities are not available in the state.

Chief Advocate Chandra Shekhar Rawat, appearing for the state government, noted that the administration was fully prepared to fight COVID.

Advocate Shiv Bhatt, the petitioner, in his appeal said, "This new variant is spreading 300 times quicker than any other strain. Therefore, in order to protect peoples lives it is essential to put a stop to large gatherings such as election rallies".

Eight major political rallies have taken place in Uttarakhand so far, with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal alone having held six of them. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the other hand, have held one and two rallies respectively.