Assembly elections 2022 unlikely to be put-off amidst Omicron scare

New Delhi, Dec 28: The Election Commission of India is unlikely to put off the elections to the five states scheduled to be held next year.

The EC was informed by the Union Health Secretary that the five poll bound states are not reporting high number of Omicron cases and hence it may not be necessary to reschedule the elections.

The EC also met with the ITBP and Sashastra Seema Bal, which guard the International border in Uttarakhand and UP and asked them to step up security and surveillance to rule out any attempt by extremist groups to carry out attacks.

The EC would also meet with the Border Security Force deployed along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab. The meeting would focus on the security arrangements in the poll bound state which has seen blasts and violence in recent times.

The EC also held discussions with. Officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau amidst rising concerns in the poll bound states of Goa and Punjab.

After the Allahabad High Court urged the Election Commission to postpone the Uttar Pradesh elections, the poll panel had said that it will take an appropriate decision.

The Allahabad High Court had requested the Election Commission to postpone the Uttar Pradesh Elections 2022 by month or two. The observations were made in the wake of the rising number of Omicron cases in the country.

The court also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban election related gatherings in the state.

The observations were made while hearing an unconnected bail petition.

"If rallies are not stopped, results will be worse than the second wave. Jaan hai toh Jahaan hai, Justice Shekhar Yadav said. The observations were made after pointing out that the court was regularly crowded as scores of cases were listed daily and social distancing was not being followed.

"There's a possibility of the third wave of Covid as the cases of the new variant Omicron are rising," the judge said. He also quoted news reports about the number of cases and said that many countries have enforced a lockdown.

"Gram Panchayat elections and the Bengal assembly elections infected a lot of people, which caused many deaths as well," he said and added that political parties are organising rallies and gatherings in UP for the upcoming election. Following COVID-19 protocols at such events are impossible the judge also said.