New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that the Assembly Elections to Uttar Pradesh will be held in 7 phases and Manipur in two phases while that of Punjab, Uttarakhand, and the Union Territory Goa will be held in a single phase.
Considering the surge in COVID19 cases, the ECI has directed political parties to avoid holding physical political rallies and roadshows till Saturday, January 15, Chief Election Commissioner of India, Sushil Chandra, said while announcing the poll dates.
Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Goa will go to the polls on February 14 in the second phase. Manipur will go to the polls on February 27 and March 3. Votes will be counted on March 10.
"No physical rally of political parties or probably candidates or any other group related to elections shall be allowed till January 15. ECI should subsequently review the situation and issue further instructions accordingly," the CEC said.
In view of the surge in cases due to the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the Election commission has announced a slew of new protocols for the upcoming polls.
CEC Sushil Chandra said, "ECI held meetings with Union Health Secretary & Home Secretary, experts, & health secretaries of States. After taking their views & ground situation, ECI decided to announce polls with safety norms in place."
"All election officials and employees will be considered as frontline workers and all eligible officers will be vaccinated with 'precautionary dose'," CEC Sushil Chandra informed during the press conference.
Chandra said that a total of 18.34 crore electors including service voters will take part in this election out of which 8.55 crore are women electors. While 24.9 lakh first-time electors are registered in the 5 States including Uttar Pradesh, he added.
ECI has mandated that at least one polling station managed exclusively by women shall be set up in every Assembly constituency. There're 690 assembly seats and we are setting up 1620 such polling booths, CEC Chandra said.
To ensure transparency in poll-bound states, the Chief Election Commissioner said that it is mandatory for political parties to upload on their website detailed information regarding individuals with pending criminal cases selected as poll candidates and has to cite reasons as to why this particular candidate was selected.
Chandra informed that senior citizens above 80 years of age, persons with disabilities & COVID19 patients can vote by postal ballot.
The country registered an alarming increase in the number of Covid-19 cases on Friday logging over 1,17,100 new cases, the highest since early June, and it has already started to haunt the health sector. Various political parties, be it the BJP, Congress and other regional parties have already canceled their rallies in UP fearing that these massive rallies could emerge as a hot spot for superspreaders.
Recently, Allahabad High Court noting the shocking rise in the Omicron cases urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the election commission to postpone polls in 5 states and also to curtail crowd in election rallies as Covid-19 cases continue to increase in the country.
Along with this, the Uttarakhand High court on Wednesday asked the poll body to consider banning large public meetings and allowing only virtual rallies. There were requests from certain sections to defer the polls in view of the rising Covid-19 cases across the country.
The poll body had urged the State and other concerned officials to accelerate the vaccination rate, ensure free and safer elections, maintain social distancing and adhere to the Covid protocols. While the calls for ensuring free and safe elections echo in unison, the primary question that these elections would not act as a super spreader remains uncertain and reminds us of the Assembly Elections of four states and one UT in 2021.
Earlier the Madras High Court - referring to the Assembly Elections of 2021 - had observed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) was responsible for the second wave in the country and that its officials should probably be tried on murder charges for allowing political parties to hold massive rallies without following Covid-19 norms.
Out of these 5 poll-bound states, the BJP is in power in 4 states - Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
Also read: Congress exudes confidence of winning 4 states after EC announces poll dates
