Election Commission extends ban on roadshows, vehicle rallies for polls in five states

The Election Commission on Sunday extended ban on roadshows pad yatras cycle and vehicle rallies but relaxed norms for indoor and outdoor political meets for pollsIn a statement the EC said restrictions regarding outdoor meetings indoor meetings rallies will be further relaxed subject to condition that the number of persons attending these events will be limited to maximum of 50 per cent of the capacity of indoor halls and 30 per cent of the open ground capacityRestrictions regarding outdoor meetingindoor meetingsrallies will be further relaxed subject to the condition that the number of persons attending the indooroutdoor meetingsrallies will be limited to a maximum of 50 per cent of the capacity of Indoor halls and 30 per cent of the open ground capacity or as fixed by DEO as per the requirement of the social distancing norms and whichever is less ECI said in a statementBan on roadshows pad yatras cyclebikevehicle rallies and processions will remain as before A maximum number of persons permissible for doortodoor campaigning fixed at 20 will also remain as before Ban on campaign between 8 PM and 8 AM will also continue as before it addedThe decision was taken after the Election Commission held a meeting with the Secretary Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday to assess the prevailing ground situationThe Health Ministry informed the Commission that COVID19 cases are fast receding in the country and the poll going states are contributing a very small proportion of the total reported cases in the countryThe commission has appointed Special Observers for the pollbound states to oversee the holding of the free and fair electionsMany Special Observers have sent their reports and have stated that the COVID situation has improved substantially and positivity rate has come down significantly the ECI saidThe Commission further said that the open ground rallies can be held only on the grounds specifically designated by the district authorities and subject to compliance with all the conditions of SDMAAllocation of these grounds will be given equitably by the district administration through eSuvidha portal on the first come first serve basis Capacities of these grounds will be fixed by the District Administration well in advance and notified to all the parties it addedThe Election Commission will review the situation periodically and take necessary decisions for amendment in its guidelines based on groundlevel situation added the statementMaximum number of persons permissible for doortodoor campaigning fixed at 20 will remain as beforeBan on campaign between 8 PM and 8 AM will also continue as before the EC saidAssembly polls are scheduled in five states of Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh Goa Manipur and PunjabThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever