Elections 2022: ECI Extends Ban On Physical Rallies, Roadshows Till Jan 22. Indoor Meetings Permitted

Last week, while announcing the schedule of elections to five states, the Election Commission had banned all such rallies and public meetings till January 15.

Representative Photo: Getty Images

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India on Saturday extended the ban imposed on physical rallies and roadshows till January 22.

However, the ECI has granted relaxation for the political parties to hold indoor meetings with a maximum of 300 persons or 50 per cent of the capacity of the hall or the prescribed limit set by the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).

"ECI directs political parties to adhere to the provisions of MCC and the broad guidelines of COVID. ECI directs State/ District Administration to ensure compliance of all instructions related to MCC and COVID," the Election Commission stated on Twitter.

Earlier, sources in the Election Commission had informed that an order extending the ban on physical rallies would be issued on Friday evening or on Saturday.

The decision comes as the ECI held separate virtual meetings with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh; and also the Chief Electoral Officers of these five states going polls.

In view of the COVID situation, the Election Commission has announced the following directives in a statement:

• No roadshow, Pad-yatra, cycle/bike/vehicle rally, and procession shall be allowed till January 22, 2022. "The commission shall subsequently review the situation and issue further instructions accordingly," the statement read.
  
  
• No physical rally of political parties or candidates (including probable) or any other group related to election shall be allowed till January 22, 2022.
  
  
• The Commission has granted relaxation for the political parties to the extent that indoor meetings of a 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.
  
  
• All remaining restrictions as contained in the Revised Broad Guidelines for Conduct of Elections, 2022 issued on January 8, 2022 shall continue to operate.

All concerned state/district authorities have been directed to ensure full compliance with these instructions.

Last week, while announcing the schedule of assembly elections to five states (Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Goa, Punjab, and Uttarakhand), the Election Commission had banned all such rallies and public meetings till January 15.

At the press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra had urged political parties to shift to digital mode of campaigning and announced the doubling of air time allocated to political parties on public broadcaster Doordarshan for electioneering.

Listing out 16-point guidelines for campaigning, the EC banned 'nukkad sabhas' (corner meetings) on public roads and roundabouts and limited the number of persons allowed for the door-to-door campaign to five, including the candidate.

The commission also banned victory celebrations after counting of votes and said only two persons would be allowed to accompany the candidate to collect the winning certificate. 

"The Commission will not hesitate to bar parties from further rallies if the COVID protocol is not followed," Sushil Chandra had said.

It was further informed that the polling time has been increased by one hour and the number of electors per polling station has been reduced to 1,250 from 1,500.

COVID Situation In India

The extension of the ban on physical rallies and roadshows comes as India on Saturday reported 6,041 Omicron positive cases, 5.01 per cent higher than yesterday. According to the Union Health Ministry, overall 2,68,833 fresh COVID-19 cases were logged which is slightly higher than yesterday. 

With this, the active caseload in India stands at 14,17,820. The daily positivity rate stands at 16.66 per cent. There were 1,22,684 discharges in 24 hours as the recovery rate stood at 95.20 per cent. 

The number of fresh fatalities reported was 402, which took the total death toll since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,85,752.

As for the assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh will go to the polls in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Goa will vote on February 14 and Manipur will vote on February 27 and March 3. The counting of votes will be done on March 10.