Onus on ECI to avert aggravation of crisis situation
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: January 17, 2022 -

The Election Commission of India (ECI) extending the ban on the physical rallies and road shows till January 22 would definitely be frustrating for major political parties and their intending candidates as such curbs would mean shelving all plans to demonstrate support base as had been the norm in the past elections.

Contrary to obvious dejection for the political class, for those citizens who fear that mass gathering of public at election events would fan transmission of the viral disease, the ECI's decision would be welcomed wholeheartedly for none would relish deterioration of the pandemic situation as it would be consequently lead to curtailment of livelihood activities as had been experienced intermittently since outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

As the decision to prolong the ban was preceded by virtual meetings with officials concerned of the Union government and authorities in poll-bound Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, the ECI must be convinced that any sort of relaxation amid the country witnessing rapid spike in the number of positive cases would compromise safety of the public.

That the prohibition covers all events and programmes entailing massive gatherings at single venue as well as imminent close contacts of the public participants in road show, cycle, bike or vehicle rally, procession, physical rally, etc., related to the upcoming election, implies that the ECI is aware of the risk factor in case it undermines the prevailing grave situation across the country and goes ahead with holding the democratic exercise to simply avoid creation of possible constitutional instability in the five states, where validity of the assemblies would be lapsing soon.

Despite total prohibition on rallies and road shows, the ECI would be facing the challenge to efficiently, implement the directive to political parties to hold indoor meetings of maximum of 300 persons or 50 per cent of the capacity of the hall or the prescribed limit set by state disaster management authority (SDMA).

Similar to all the virus containment measures, effective enforcement of the ban or relaxation would depend on diligence of officials who are entrusted to ensure that political parties comply with COVID appropriate behaviour and guidelines and Model Code of Conduct at all occasions during the activities connected with elections.

Regardless of directing state and district authorities concerned to ensure full compliance with the standing orders, there is strong possibility that major political parties would find an escape route rather than acknowledge that the curbs are for the safety of all as could evident from the ECI serving show cause notice to the Samajwadi Party, which reportedly held a large public meeting in the compound of the party office in Uttar Pradesh, defying Covid norms.

Unlike in the past, the upcoming elections would be testing the resilience and proficiency of the ECI as the task ahead is not only limited to facilitating smooth transition of power in these states but also ensure compliance of all instructions related to the poll code and to the pandemic control measures as well as allay apprehension among the various regional parties that banning physical rallies while advocating virtual rallies will help only richer parties which have more resources.