The Election of Commission of India (ECI) will on Saturday review the COVID situation in poll-bound states to decide whether or not to extend the ban imposed on physical political rallies for the upcoming Assembly elections. 

In view of a surge in cases, the Election Commission on January 8 had banned election rallies, roadshows and corner meetings till January 15 in the five poll-bound states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. This ban was later extended to January 22. 

Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra had said at the time, “The Commission will not hesitate to bar parties from further rallies if COVID protocol is not followed,” he said.

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Uttar Pradesh, for instance, reported 22 coronavirus deaths on Friday as 16,142 fresh cases surfaced, pushing the state’s infection count to 19,16,616, according to a government statement, PTI reported quoting a government statement.

The ECI had also set out stringent COVID guidelines, restricting the number of persons allowed for door-to-door campaigns to five.

Political parties were asked to provide masks, hand sanitisers to people attending rallies, if they are allowed, Chandra said.

Elections to the five state assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will be held from February 10 to March 7, with the counting set to be held on March 10.

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The elections will be conducted in a total of seven phases. The Yogi Adityanath-ruled Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of phases, seven, from February 10 to March 7. Manipur will vote in two phases – on February 27 and March 3 – while Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will vote in a single phase on February 14.

CEC Sushil Chandra had said that the ECI has three primary objectives for the upcoming elections – COVID-safe elections, hassle-free voter experience and maximum voter participation.

The announcement came a day after the ECI was briefed by the government on the COVID situation, with the country experiencing a rapid surge in cases driven by the more transmissible omicron variant of the coronavirus.