All parties want UP polls on time with Covid protocol-CEC Chandra

All political parties in Uttar Pradesh want the upcoming Assembly elections should be held on time while ensuring Covid protocol, the Election Commission said, clearing the air on whether polls will be held amid a spike in new infections. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra said on Thursday that the final list of voters will be released on January 5, adding that voting will be held from 8 am to 6 pm on the date of polling. “VVPATs will be installed at all voting booths. Live webcasting facilities will be available at around 1 lakh voting booths to ensure transparency in election process,” said Chandra. The CEC Chandra said that all parties, including the ruling BJP,  Samajwadi Party, the Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party, among others, have said the elections must be held on time. Parties raised violation of Covid norms in rallies and asked for curbs to be put in place.

Addressing the press conferance in Lucknow, Chandra said that people above 80 years of age, persons with disabilities, and COVID affected people who are unable to come to the polling booth, the Election Commission will reach their doorsteps. Voting time will be extended by an hour and 11,000 booths will be added to ensure distancing. Detailed guidelines will be issued soon, he said. To boost women participation in polls, 800 polling booths for women will be set up.  Frontline poll workers will be fully vaccinated, he said, adding that directions have been issued to ensure that everyone in the state has received at least one dose of vaccine. "UP officials have told us that 50 per cent of population is fully vaccinated and that only four Omicron cases have been reported in the state so far,"  Chandra said.

A delegation of the Election Commission of India (ECI) was on a three-day visit to Uttar Pradesh to review the preparations for the upcoming polls to ensure free and fair elections. During the meeting with the EC, SP, BSP Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)  sought strict imposition of model code of conduct after the announcement of the poll schedule, check on misuse of government machinery by the BJP and adequate deployment of central paramilitary forces during polling. The poll panel team visited the state after the Allahabad High Court urged it to defer the Uttar Pradesh polls amid a spike in Covid cases driven by the new Omicron strain and requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban election rallies. Besides Uttar Pradesh, Assembly elections are due in Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Punjab in the first half of next year.