Earlier, we had questioned the wisdom of restricting physical rallies and roadshows of all political parties in all poll bound states till January 15 by the Election Commission of India, when it announced elections. ECI was briefed on the third wave besides the risk analysis and expert opinions by top ranking officials as to the various trajectories of the pandemic then. We had asked how it could be so certain that the situation might possibly get better after January 15. For us, it is best that political rallies are banned till the final hours of the poll and ECI get down to improving the safety measures to be taken on poll day.
Now after holding several virtual meetings with officials of the Union Health Ministry and Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, as well as the Chief Electoral Officers of these five poll-bound states the Election Commission of India on Saturday extended ban on physical rallies of political parties or candidates and roadshows in all poll-bound states until January 22. Apart from it, the ECI issued several directions during separate virtual meetings.
Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra along with Election Commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey accompanied by Secretary General and concerned Deputy Election Commissioners held a comprehensive review of present status and projected trends of COVID-19 pandemic with special focus in the five poll-bound states. Vaccination status and action plan for expeditiously completing vaccination for first, second and booster dose for eligible persons amongst frontline workers and polling personnel was also reviewed.
After considering the present situation, facts and circumstances as also the inputs received in these meetings, the Commission gave the following directions. No road show, Padyatra, cycle/bike/vehicle rally and procession shall be allowed till 22 January, 2022. No physical rally of Political parties or candidates (including probable) or any other group related to election shall be allowed till 22 January, 2022.
However, the Commission has granted relaxation for the political parties to the extent that indoor meetings of maximum of 300 persons or 50 per cent of the capacity of the hall or the prescribed limit set by SDMA will be allowed. Political parties shall ensure the compliance of COVID appropriate behaviour and guidelines and Model Code of Conduct at all occasions during the activities connected with elections.
Earlier in view of the pandemic, the number of voters at a polling station has been reduced to 1,250 from 1,500 thereby, increasing the number of election booths. Further, polling time has been increased by an hour. Political parties and candidates advised to conduct campaigns as much as possible through digital based mode. Maximum of five persons are allowed for door-to-door election campaigns by candidates. The Election Commission had already asked the chief secretaries of five poll-bound states to “accelerate” the pace of Covid-19 vaccination.
India's Covid-19 figures continued to rise with 2.71 lakh cases reported today, while 314 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. The daily positivity rate is 16.28 per cent. A total of 7,743 Omicron cases have been detected so far across the country. Meanwhile, in the last few days, positive cases had been rising rapidly in the state after a brief lull while Covid-19 vaccination is extremely low particularly in some of the hill districts.
On Sunday, the daily positive figure rose to 279 with a positivity rate of 14.4 pc bringing the cumulative positive figures for the state to 1,27,258 while the vaccination status remained at 57.47 and 43.54 pc respectively for the first and second dose. The districts of Ukhrul and Kangpokpi remain far behind. Even as the chief minister made an earnest appeal to the general public to cooperate with the vaccination drive, many are not taking heed.
