New Delhi: Covid-19 cases have been rapidly rising in India, with many experts claiming that the third wave is setting in India. Five states, meanwhile, are going to polls this year (2022) - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur.
The Election Commission on Thursday reviewed the Covid situation with the Union health secretary and health experts, collecting inputs on necessary safety measures to be ensured during the democratic exercise and emphasising the need for vaccination of all eligible people in these five poll-bound states, sources said. In a separate meeting, the poll panel discussed the law and order situation in the five states with Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
Elections are due in the five states and the Commission is expected to announce poll dates in the next few days. Besides Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, the meeting to assess the Covid situation was also attended by AIIMS director Randeep Guleria and ICMR's Balram Bhargava, sources aware of the interactions said.
The poll panel carried out a "complete review" of the Covid status and took inputs from medical experts on "safety measures to be ensured" during campaigning and polling. It stressed to the health secretary the need to ensure complete vaccination for all eligible persons, the sources said. In an earlier meeting with Bhushan on December 27, the poll panel had asked him to ramp up the vaccination drive in the five states.
While in some quarters, doubts were raised as to whether elections should take place amid COVID, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra on December 30, 2021, had stated that representatives of all political parties, who met him during his visit to Lucknow, have said that the Assembly elections should be conducted on time following all Covid-19 protocols. The Chief Election Commissioner’s statement came as a clear indication that there will be no postponement of the elections in the poll-bound states.
(With Agency inputs)
