Till January 31st, rallies banned with few expectations

In the midst of the country's third wave of the Covid pandemic, the Election Commission on Saturday prolonged the prohibition on physical rallies and roadshows in five poll-bound states till January 31. Following a meeting with the Union health secretary and the chief health secretaries of the five states, the Election Commission made the judgement.

Physical public gatherings of political parties/contesting candidates for Phase 1 from January 28 and Phase 2 from February 1 have been given relaxation by the commission. The maximum number of people who can participate in a door-to-door campaign has been increased from five to ten. With Covid regulations, video vans for publicity have been allowed in certain open spaces.

The restriction was initially set to end on January 15, but it was later extended for another week, until January 22. When the Election Commission released the election calendar for these five states on January 8, the prohibition was imposed, and the model code of conduct went into effect.

The five states' case histories and immunization coverage are important criteria in permitting relaxations.

In terms of vaccination, Uttar Pradesh, which has 98,238 active Covid cases, has vaccinated 96 percent of its population with the first dose for those aged 18 and up. In Uttarakhand, the first dose was given to 99 percent of the population, and the second dose was given to 84 percent. Goa has given a second dosage of the vaccination to 98 percent of its citizens over the age of 18.

For the five states conducting elections next month - Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Goa - the Electoral Commission first prohibited election rallies and roadshows until January 15 before.

From January 28 to February 8, the Commission has decided to allow physical gatherings in authorized open areas with up to 500 persons or 50% of the ground's capacity, whichever is lower, or the required limit imposed by state disaster management, whichever is lower.

The Commission has decided to give the same exemption from February 1 to February 12 for Phase 2 contending candidates, whose names would be finalized by January 31.

In the last 24 hours, India reported 3.37 lakh new COVID-19 cases, approximately 10,000 more than yesterday, and 488 deaths. The percentage of people who were optimistic was 17.22%.

As far as the elections are concerned Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, claimed on Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does social justice not just via governance but also through candidates, with 66 percent of the party's tickets going to candidates from minority communities.

"66 percent of BJP candidates come from minority communities. The model of social justice has been done not only through the government but also through the candidates of BJP," says the UP chief minister.

On the other hand, The Samajwadi Party (SP) has declared that Akhilesh Yadav, the party's leader, will contest in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election from Karhal in Mainpuri, putting any doubts about his candidacy to rest. The statement was made by SP national general secretary Ramgopal Yadav.

At a press conference attended by Akhilesh, Ramgopal Yadav remarked, "I am making a formal official announcement now. Our national president Akhilesh Yadav will contest the Karhal assembly constituency in Mainpuri, and he will win with massive mandate."