Uttarakhand High Court to hear a PIL on deferring assembly polls

Dehradun, Jan 03: Amid concern over Omicron cases, the Uttarakhand High Court will hear a plea seeking either postponement of assembly elections or conducting of electoral campaigns online today.

"That the assembly elections in the state of Uttarakhand is going to be scheduled in the month of February-March, 2022 and for which as on date there are enormous 'election rallies' being held by all political parties," the petition said.

"The election rallies held at various parts of the state by the AAP, Congress and BJP, Bhatt pointed out that neither has social distancing been followed nor people worn masks," it added.

Last week, the HC urged the central government to stop political rallies from being held in election-bound states amid rising cases of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.

During the second wave, the country saw lakhs of people getting infected by coronavirus and many people had died contracting the disease, the HC said.

The gram panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal Assembly polls also contributed to a rise in infections that led to many deaths due to COVID-19, it stated.

As the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections are nearing, all the political parties are mobilising lakhs of people by holding rallies and meetings where it is not possible to follow COVID protocols, including social distancing, in any way, the HC observed.

If this is not stopped in time, the consequences could be more dire than the second wave of the pandemic, it warned.

The court requested the Election Commission of India to immediately stop such rallies and gatherings and also order political parties to campaign through TV channels and newspapers.