New Delhi: With the Allahabad High Court requesting for postponing the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday put the ball in the Election Commission’s court stating the poll body has to decide when the elections will take place.
“When the Election Commission of India puts Model Code of Conduct, they have to decide when the elections will take place,” he said, ANI reported.
The Allahabad High Court has requested the Election Commission to postpone the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls by a month or two.
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The High Court has also requested the poll body to immediately stop political rallies and gatherings and also order the political parties to campaign through TV channels and newspapers.
The poll body also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban election-related gatherings in Uttar Pradesh and think about postponing the state assembly polls over fears of the highly contagious Covid-19 variant Omicron.
A High Court bench of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav said the number of patients infected with the Omicron variant are increasing and there is a possibility of a third Covid wave.
The High Court said, if possible, the elections could be postponed by a couple of months because only if there is life then the election rallies and meetings can take place and the right to life has also been given under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.