Assembly elections 2022: Ban on physical rallies to continue due to Covid-19? EC to review today

In view of the spike in coronavirus infections in the country, the Election Commission had imposed a ban on physical rallies and roadshows in the five poll-bound states on January 8.

New Delhi: The Election Commission will on Monday (January 31, 2022) review the Covid-19 situation in the five poll-bound states and decide on whether to continue the ban on physical rallies.

The poll panel is also likely to decide on whether fresh relaxations can be extended to political parties and candidates in holding physical campaigning events.

In view of the spike in coronavirus infections in the country, the Commission had imposed a ban on physical rallies and roadshows when it had announced the poll schedule for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur on January 8.

During its last meeting on January 22, it had then extended the ban till January 31 but had allowed public meetings with a maximum of 500 people in the constituencies going to polls in the first two phases and relaxed door-to-door campaign rules.

The Commission has been reviewing the situation regularly and has been granting relaxations to ensure that the virus does not spread and parties get an opportunity to hold physical campaigning in the restricted format. 

The five states will go to the polls between February 10 and March 7.

India, notably, recorded 2,34,281 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday and the total number of active cases across the country now stands at 18,84,937.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a virtual rally in five districts of Uttar Pradesh on Monday. The Prime Minister's virtual rally in the poll-bound state will cover the districts of Shamli, Muzzafarnagar, Baghpat, Saharanpur, Gautambuddh Nagar (Dadri/Jewar) and 21 Vidhan sabha seats.

This will be PM's first address for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the dates were announced for the Assembly elections.

Keeping the directions of the EC in mind amid the Covid-19 spread, the total physical mobilization arrangements have been made to listen to PM Modi's address at 100 locations cutting across 98 mandals.

The total physical presence will be 50,000 covering 500 people per location. There will also be LED screens and campaign vans that will be dispatched to these locations for people to listen to the Prime Minister's address.

The BJP, which has a massive digital footprint, will use all its social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to reach the masses across these 21 Assembly constituencies.

Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven phases starting from February 10. The last phase will be held on March 7 and the counting will take place on March 10.