New DelhiIn view of the situation of COVID-19 epidemic in the country (India), the Election Commission has organized public meetings till January 15 during the assembly elections to be held in five states. There has been a ban on cycle and bike rallies and padyatras.
Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said at a press conference here on Saturday that the commission would take a further decision after taking stock of the situation after January 15. He said, “The commission has decided that no public meeting (physical rally), padyatra, cycle rally, bike rally, roadshow will be allowed till January 15 with the physical presence of people … Election Commission will further review the situation of COVID epidemic. and will issue directions accordingly.”
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Chandra said, “There will be no meeting between 8 pm and morning. There will be no street gatherings on public roads. No victory procession will be taken out after the election results.” He said that only after reviewing the situation further, programs would be allowed for campaigning in the states as per the guidelines related to COVID. Chandra said that all the states will have to give an undertaking that they will follow all the guidelines.
Those not following the COVID guidelines will be liable to legal action. “We are ensuring that maximum digital campaigning takes place,” he said. The Chief Election Commissioner said that all the polling stations will have facilities to protect against Covid like sanitizers and masks and the number of polling stations will be increased keeping in view the situation of COVID.