The emerging demand for the postponement of next year’s Assembly elections has forced the Election Commission of India to take note of the development, with Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra on Friday informing that the poll body will take a final call next week.
“Next week, we will go to Uttar Pradesh and review the situation there. Then take an appropriate decision,” CEC Sushil Chandra said, according to news agency ANI.
The chorus got louder after the Allahabad High Court on Thursday requested the Election Commission of India to immediately ban election rallies and postpone the Assembly polls next year in wake of the emerging concerns of a third wave of the Covid-19 outbreak.
“If rallies are not stopped, results will be worse than the second wave. Jaan hai toh Jahaan hai (if there is life, we have the world),” Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court said.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur earlier today said that the ECI should decide on the conduct of the state elections when it imposes the Model Code of Conduct.
“When the Election Commission of India puts the Model Code of Conduct, they have to decide when the elections will take place,” Thakur said.
Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, along with Punjab, Goa and Manipur, are expected to be held next year.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday imposed fresh Covid-19 restrictions, including state-wide night curfew starting December 25 in view of the rise in Omicron cases in several states.
The Union Health Ministry had on Tuesday put all states and Union Territories on high alert over the new Covid-19 variant – Omicron – and stated that based on current scientific evidence, Omicron is at least three times more transmissible than the Delta variant.
