*Ban on physical rallies till Jan 15
NEW DELHI, Jan 8:Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will be held between February 10 and March 7 in seven phases with the counting of votes on March 10, the Election Commission announced today and banned physical rallies and roadshows till January 15 due to COVID concerns.
The elections have huge political significance with BJP ruling four of these five States, while it is making a big push to capture Congress-ruled Punjab, where the Aam Aadmi Party is also emerging as an important player.
Announcing the month-long election schedule with a strong focus on digital and virtual modes of campaigning in view of the Omicron scare, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said the ban on rallies, roadshows, nukkad sabhas, padayatras and vehicle rallies will be reviewed on January 15.
“Physical rallies during the campaign, if allowed, after reviewing the situation need to follow the COVID-19 protocol,” Chandra said.
The poll panel has also banned victory celebrations and only two persons will be allowed to accompany a candidate to collect the winning certificate.
While all major political parties welcomed the announcement of the schedule, some opposition leaders raised concerns that financially-strong BJP has advantage for conducting virtual rallies and digital campaigns and said the poll panel should keep in mind the digital divide, especially in Uttar Pradesh, when it reviews the ban on physical rallies.
Asked about experts predicting the third wave of the COVID pandemic to peak in February, when voting for five of the seven phases of the polls will take place, Chandra said the situation is very dynamic and nobody can predict Covid numbers of future dates.
He also assured voters that all necessary steps are being taken to ensure “COVID safe” elections and said they should come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise as polling booths will be sanitised and polling officers vaccinated.
In all, elections will be held for 690 Assembly seats, and 18.3 crore people, including 8.5 crore women, will be eligible to cast their votes in the five States.
Welcoming the announcement of polls, BJP president J P Nadda urged the party workers to participate in this grand festival of democracy with their full strength while adhering to COVID-related and other guidelines.
Home Minister Amit Shah said his party heartily welcomes the decisions taken by the poll body for people’s safety and obeying them is the collective responsibility of all parties.
BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh said the party will contest polls in five states with all its “might and energy” and form governments with a big majority.
Asserting that the Congress will contest strongly in these elections, party general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said this is an opportunity for people to defeat the BJP and put an end to unemployment, price rise and atrocities against women and Dalits.
Samajwadi Party’s Akhikesh Yadav said his party would abide by all the conditions laid down by the EC, but appealed to it to ensure that regional parties also get proper space on digital platforms where he claimed the BJP was dominating.
He urged the Poll Panel to assist resource-scared smaller parties infrastructurally to hold virtual rallies during the seven-phase polling in the state.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said he hopes that the Election Commission will review its guidelines after January 15 and urged it to mindful of the digital divide in India, especially in Uttar Pradesh.
Responding to a question on EC holding polls amid a surge in COVID cases, the CEC said “caution, not panic” is needed and people and parties have to follow COVID-Appropriate Behaviour.
He also said people are going to markets and malls and, therefore, should come out to vote exercising caution.
Asked about farmers’ agitation and breach in the Prime Minister’s security in Punjab, Chandra said the Poll Panel has assessed the security and law and order situation and a sufficient number of paramilitary personnel will be deployed in all states.
Responding to a specific question on Punjab regarding farmers’ agitation, he said, “No election is same, every election is different, every state is different. EC has assessed wherever there is a threat perception, wherever there are farmers’ protests and we have spoken with security agencies of both the State and the Centre and those deployed at international borders before deciding the schedule.”
Voting in Western UP and Punjab, the two regions among those covered in the upcoming polls, would take place in the first two phases on February 10 and February 14.
In the politically important Uttar Pradesh, voting will be held in 403 assembly seats, starting from the western region and will move towards the east over seven phases from February 10 to March 7.
The Assembly polls are being held at a time when the BJP is facing criticism despite withdrawing the three controversial farm laws.
Welcoming the announcement of the poll schedule, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the BJP will return to power with an “overwhelming majority”. BSP president and former Chief Minister Mayawati on the other hand sought a check on the tendency in the ruling party to violate the Model Code of Conduct.
The Model Code of Conduct has come into effect in the five States with the announcement of the elections.
For Manipur’s 60 Assembly constituencies, elections will be held in two phases on February 27 and March 3, while polling in Goa (40 seats), Punjab (117 seats) and Uttarakhand (70 seats) will be held on February 14.
“The Commission will not hesitate to bar parties from further rallies if COVID protocol is not followed,” Chandra said.
Putting in place stringent COVID guidelines for the polls, the EC has restricted the number of people for door-to-door campaigns to five and has asked political parties to provide masks, hand sanitisers to people attending rallies if they are allowed.
The EC said it has asked chief secretaries of the poll-bound states to expedite the vaccination drive. Some of these states, including Goa, are witnessing a surge in Covid cases.
“More than 15 crores have got the first dose, more than nine crores have got both doses in the five states,” Chandra said.
The EC has also doubled the air time on Doordarshan for political parties, he said.
Chandra, who was flanked by election commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey, said parties and candidates have been advised to conduct their campaigns on virtual and digital modes as much as possible.
He also said the elections are being conducted in seven phases in UP, as against eight-phase polls in West Bengal, and the number of days involved in the entire process has been brought down. The 2017 elections in Uttar Pradesh were also held in seven phases, but there was some criticism when voting was stretched to eight phases for West Bengal in the last round of assembly polls in 2021.
Chandra said there would be zero-tolerance for money power and misuse of the government machinery by any party or candidate, while there would a strict vigil against hate speech and fake news including on social media. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
