Assam Govt Announces Restrictions In View Of Election Result Day Amid Covid Spike, Night Curfew Extended

Following the Election Commission's directive, the state government has banned victory rallies on Result Day. Meanwhile, the government has also extended the night curfew across the state till May 7.

Representative Photo

Guwahati: In view of the current Coronavirus situation, the Assam government released two notifications laying out some restrictions for the vote counting and assembly election result announcement set to happen on May 2 i.e. tomorrow.

Following the Election Commission's directive, the state government has banned victory rallies on Result Day. Meanwhile, the government has also extended the night curfew across the state till May 7.

Releasing two separate notifications, the state government has announced the restrictions.

"Any victory procession or assembly at any public place during and after the counting on 02.05.2021 is prohibited," the notification released by the government reads.

The order specifies that the winning candidate will only be accompanied by two persons while prohibiting the cracking of firecrackers and usage of loudspeakers.

All persons will have to wear a mask, it added.

Besides this, the restriction on the movement of people from 8 pm to 5 am which was set to end on Saturday has been extended by a week keeping in mind the spike in daily cases that has reached over 3,000.

The order informs that all shops and markets except essential services including pharmacies, hospitals, animal care centers, and veterinary clinics will have to shut down during night curfew.

The exempted essential services also include those of electricity, water and sanitation, and public transport.

Government officials (both central and state), judicial officers, and persons entrusted with election-related work are also exempted, on the production of valid ID cards.

Assam on Friday recorded 3,197 new cases taking the caseload to 2,53,123. The state also reported 26 fatalities which is the highest in a single day so far, taking the number of deaths to 1,281. The number of active cases is 23,826.