JOIN USEC eases Covid-19 restrictions on poll campaigning, extends ban on roadshows till February 11
The candidates and the political parties will be allowed to hold public meetings in open spaces with an audience of maximum of 1,000 persons in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur from Tuesday.
The Election Commission has decided to raise the limit of attendance in the poll rallies held in open spaces from 500 to 1,000 persons or 50% of the capacity of the ground or the prescribed limit set by the respective State Disaster Management Authorities, whichever number is lesser, for all constituencies in the five states.
The ban imposed by the EC on roadshows, padayatras as well as cycle, bike or vehicle rallies in view of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic will continue till February 11, according to a press release issued by the commission.
The EC, however, decided that a candidate or a leader of a political party could now take 20 people, instead of previously set limit of 10 people, during door-to-door campaigning.
The Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and the Election Commissioners, Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey, reviewed the Covid-19 situation in the poll-bound states. They held virtual meetings with the senior officials of the union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. They also had separate meetings with the Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Electoral Officers of the respective states also participated.
The commission assessed the present status and projected trends of the Covid-19 pandemic in the five states. They also reviewed the status of vaccination and the action plan for expeditiously completing vaccination of the frontline workers and the polling personnel with the two doses of the anti-Covid-19 vaccines as well as of the senior citizens with the first, second and the booster doses.
The commission had banned physical rallies and road shows for a week when it had announced the schedule of the assembly elections in the five states on January 8 last – in view of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. It, however, reviewed the situation on January 15 and January 22 and gradually eased the restrictions imposed on electioneering.
The EC on Monday decided to allow political parties to hold indoor meetings with attendance of maximum 500 persons, instead of existing 300 persons, or 50% of the capacity of the hall or the prescribed limit set by the concerned SDMAs.
Check out latest videos from DH: