Assembly elections 2022: Ban on political rallies to continue due to rising Covid-19 cases? EC to decide today

EC will hold a review meeting with the Union Health Secretary, Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of the five poll-bound states today to take stock of the Covid-19 situation.

Representational Image (Credits: PTI)

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India will hold a virtual meeting with the Union Health Secretary and the Chief Health Secretaries of the five poll-bound states on Saturday (January 22, 2022).

According to ANI reports, the review meeting is regarding EC`s ban on election road shows and rallies. The Election commission had put a ban on election rallies and roadshows as India is reporting a continuous rise in Covid-19 cases.

Earlier on January 8, while announcing dates for elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur, the poll panel had announced a ban on physical rallies, road and bike shows, and similar campaigning events till January 15.

On January 15, the Commission extended the ban until January 22, however, it allowed the political parties to the extent that indoor meetings of a maximum 300 people or 5percentnt of the capacity of the hall, or the prescribed limit set by state disaster management authorities can be held.

The progress on vaccination will be a key factor in allowing relaxations. The five states going to polls are Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa.

The Election commission`s aim is to have maximum voters vaccinated before the elections held in these particular states.

Uttar Pradesh which currently has 98,238 active Covid-19 cases has inoculated 96 per cent of its population with the first dose in the 18 plus category.

Uttarakhand inoculated 99 per cent of its population with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and 84 per cent of its population with the second dose. Goa has vaccinated 98 per cent of its population above 18 years of age with a second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, India recorded 3,47,254 new Covid-19 cases, 703 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total death toll to 4,88,396, according to the data released by the Ministry of Health on Friday (January 21, 2022). The active cases stand at 20,18,825.

An increase of 94,774 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The country also recorded 2,51,777 recoveries today, taking the total number of recoveries to 3,60,58,806.

(With ANI inputs)