Poll panel talks with Health Secy, bosses of paramilitaries amid call to put off elections
Amid the rising cases of Omicron and the Allahabad High Court observation to postpone the polls, the Election Commission (EC) on Monday held wide-ranging discussions with Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and top brass of the Narcotics Control Bureau, paramilitaries.
Top sources said the final decision about election schedule will be taken next month. “Both the poll body and the Health Ministry will hold another meeting in January to take a final call,” sources said.
Earlier, top officials of the Election Commission met the Union Health Secretary to review the Covid-19 situation in the wake of the spread of highly infectious Omicron variant ahead of Assembly polls in five States early next year. Bhushan briefed the EC about the Covid-19 situation and the rising cases of Omicron in the country.
“The Health Secretary has given a detailed presentation to the poll body for nearly an hour, especially the poll-bound Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh,” the sources said.
The Health Secretary also briefed the EC about the Covid protocol and Home Ministry guidelines issued in the recent past to check the spread of the virus. Another source said it was a session meant to get information. The EC assessed the situation based on statistics provided by the health secretary.
The EC also met with the top brass of the Narcotics Control Bureau, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Border Security Force (BSF) and pressed for maintaining strict vigil on international borders in poll-bound States to ensure drugs do not influence the upcoming Assembly polls in five States.
The commission in particular referred to Punjab and Goa with regard to drug smuggling, the sources said.
A high-level team comprising Chief Election Commission Sushil Chandra, election commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey, will visit Uttar Pradesh on December 28 to take stock of the upcoming polls preparations and Covid-19 situation.
The chorus to postpone the upcoming Assembly polls got louder after the Allahabad High Court requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the EC to immediately ban rallies and public meetings of political parties, and consider postponing the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election owing to rising cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
“The poll body has the experience of conducting last year’s Bihar and this summer’s five-State Assembly elections amid the Covid pandemic. But this also came with flak from courts over failure to enforce its own social distancing norms at election rallies,” said the sources.
Reacting on the conflicting reports, the Congress said, “It is with the Centre to decide as all the systems, data and necessary instruments are with their control, its with their wisdom to deal with the situation.”
Earlier, in a tweet on Friday, BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramaniam Swamy wrote, “Don’t be surprised by a Lockdown for Omicron and postponement of UP elections to September under President Rule in UP. What could not directly be done earlier this year can be then done indirectly early next year”.
Apart from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the other election-bound States are Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. In 2017, the last time Assembly elections were held in these States, UP had a seven-phase poll, while Manipur had a two-phase election. All other States had a single-phase poll.
