Latest Breaking news Needed: A safe election season
ECI has rolled out measures for the polls as COVID casses surge.Enforce them diligently
The Election commission of India (ECI) last week set the ball rolling on a high stakes round of assembly elections in February March, wich will happens amid a surge in coronavirus infections driven by the omicron variant. A large part of chief election commissioner (CEC) sushil Chandra's press confrence was dedicated to explaining the measures the panel is taking to ensure as a safe a polling exercise as possible.
(ECI) has banned 🚫 all rallies till January 15, capped the number of cars in a convoy and electors in a booth, and made regular sanitization of polling stations and thermal checking mandatory.pp poll officials will be fully vaccinated and those eligible will be given booster doses.
This is the third set of assembly elections in the shadow of th pandemic, after Bihar in October-November 2020, just as the first wave of infections was receding, and west bengal, Assam , tamilnadu, Kerala and Puducherry in march-April 2021, conceding with the brutal second wave. In each round ECI imposed stringent restrictions on campaigning, only to see these being flaunted. This is unfortunate. The second wave of COVID - 19 showed the country the dangerous of reckless electioneering and how markless relyies with no social distancing can drive infections . Experts pointed out how the multiphase polls saw several superspreader events even as the local administration appeared unable, or unwilling, to enforce even basic covid-19 protocols a phenomenon that letter drew judicial censure.
Initial indications are that both ECI and political parties have learnt from those harrowing events. The ban on rallies is a step in the right direction, and it's full thorted welcome by political parties Many of wich called off events before the moratorium was announced augurs for the country's fight against the third wave of infections. But this momentum must be sustained throughout the two month election season that lies ahead. When ECI reviews it's decision is banning physical
Campaigning latter this week , the only factor on the table should be science , data and medical expertise . Likewise, implementation of the guidelines and imposition of fines and panalties for flouting them must be done stringently with no heed to political considerations. The responsibility for safeguarding the election process lies with all sketchholder: ECI political parties, candidates and there support ers, and the public. India cannot afford another savage summer of human losses.
