Days after the Election Commission of India (ECI) barred physical rallies and roadshows till January 15, the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday, January 12, said a decision will be taken accordingly when asked whether the ban on election rallies will be extended.
At a regular press briefing over Covid-19 situation, the Health Ministry said that the EC has issued guidelines related to gathering, rallies. "As the situation evolves we coordinate with the EC and a decision will be taken accordingly," the ministry added.
According to election commission, public meetings however, public meetings will be allowed with restrictions on timings. Door-to-door campaign also will be allowed, with a bar on the number of people in the teams.
The focus will be on Covid safety measures to ensure maximum participation in polls, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra told reporters today while announcing the poll dates.
"The candidates should conduct their campaign through virtual mode as much as possible... There will be no nukkad sabhas (neighbourhood meetings) on public roads and no victory procession after the counting," said the Commission, which came under huge criticism after the second wave of Covid that followed a string of assembly elections in April-May last year.
Meanwhile, the health ministry today also said that as many as 300 districts in India are reporting weekly Covid case positivity of more than 5 per cent,and also it urged people not to treat infection due to Omicron variant as common cold and get vaccinated.
It said Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat are emerging as states of concern due to the rise in Covid cases there.
Joint Secretary in Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections has been noted in India with the case positivity climbing to 11.05 per cent on Wednesday from 1.1 per cent on December 30.
Concurrently, Covid cases have been rising globally with January 10 recording the highest ever single-day rise of 31.59 lakh cases worldwide, he said. The official said that currently, 300 districts in India are reporting weekly case positivity of more than 5 per cent.
Informing the press conference that 19 states have over 10,000 active Covid cases, Agarwal said Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat are emerging as states of concern due to the rise in Covid cases there.
