Officials of the West Bengal State Opinion Survey Group stated that elections in the four cities of West Bengal will be held on January 22 as scheduled. In the case of a surge in Covid-19 cases, road shows and gatherings will be restricted.

“The date of citizen elections will not change. The WBSEC (West Bengal State Electoral Commission) has issued some Covid-19 agreements. These are similar to those issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in April 2021, which included West Bengal at the time. Five states are holding parliamentary elections,” an official said.

The agreement prohibits road shows, bicycles and bicycle rallies. During the door-to-door campaign, the candidate can bring four other personnel and security guards.

Meetings are allowed in open spaces and can accommodate up to 500 people. Only 200 people are allowed to attend meetings organized in the conference hall. The election campaign will end 72 hours before the polling day. In December, WBSEC announced a timetable for voting in civil groups such as Asansol, Bidhannagar, Siliguri, and Chandannagar on January 22. The counting of votes will take place on January 25th.

Last week, the state’s Covid-19 cases and positive rates soared. More than 6,000 Covid-19 cases were reported on Monday. The positive rate is close to 20%, which means that one-fifth of the samples are found to be positive.

In April, when the daily number of Covid-19 cases surged after parliamentary elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Pondicherry, the Madras High Court criticized the ECI . In West Bengal, the post-election daily count reached a peak of over 20,000 cases per day in May 2021.

Sukanta Majumdar, the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said that because of the fear of Covid-19, they doubted the extent to which people would stand up and vote. “I don’t know why and how WBSEC conducts polls under so many restrictions. If people don’t come out to vote and the turnout rate drops, then I don’t think this will be considered a successful election.”

On Sunday, the government reintroduced stricter restrictions until January 15 by closing schools and universities, restricting labor across offices, and restricting flights from Delhi and Mumbai.

State Minister Sobhandeb Chatterjee said that if the guidelines are followed, then there is nothing to be afraid of. “The BJP only considers one thing, and that is criticism. But you will never see them take to the streets and actively participate in making people aware of Covid-19 norms.”

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times