PANAJI
The restrictions on campaigning imposed due to the surge in Covid cases in the current third wave were partially relaxed by the Election Commission of India on Monday.
Revising the guidelines, the ECI said up to 1,000 people will be permitted at public meetings in open areas. At closed venues too, the number of participants permitted has been upwardly revised to 500 or 50 per cent of the capacity of the venue.
Also, the maximum number of people who will now be permitted in door-to-door campaigns has been raised from 10 to 20, excluding security personnel.
The ECI however has not lifted the ban on road-shows, padyatras, vehicle rallies and processions which will remain in force until February 11.
The ECI said, it has now decided to permit physical public meetings by political parties and contesting candidates. These however will have to be held only in designated public spaces.
Until Sunday, political parties and candidates contesting the February 14 elections to the Goa legislative assembly were restricted to door-to-door campaigning and in some cases virtual rallies and limited capacity public meetings in indoor venues.
The EC met with health and electoral officials from the five States going to polls to review the present situation of Covid infection and projected trends.
“All the State Chief secretaries informed the Commission about reports of Covid infection either plateauing or tapering as on date. They also said that the positivity rate is showing a decline with the number of hospitalisation cases also registering a declining trend," a release from the EC said, adding that state officers suggested continuing Covid precautions.
Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said that while deliberating the relaxations, the practicality of implementation of orders by field level functionaries should be ensured in the wake of the prevailing situation.
