Even before the courts made their observations, there has been criticism of the EC’s conduct from various quarters including the media, observers of the election scene, persons who were in the past associated with the election machinery and political parties other than the BJP. Such criticism had pointed out deficiencies in the ECI’s conduct of elections, its questionable decisions and acts of commission and omission which were seen to have favoured the BJP. The decision to hold the elections in eight phases in West Bengal and in three phases in Assam was seen as a step to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi to campaign for an extended period and to help the BJP. The EC also did nothing to stop or to limit the big rallies which would have contributed to the fast spread of the pandemic. West Bengal’s Covid cases increased 40 times after the first phase elections. The number of cases increased in other states also during the campaign period. The proposal to hold virtual rallies was hardly implemented.
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