Polls amid Covid

The Election Commission of India (ECI) faces a slew of challenges as it finalises the schedule for the Assembly polls in five states — Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur — amid a fresh surge in Covid-19 cases. The ECI has already asked the Union Government to prod the poll-bound states to expedite their vaccination programme. The panel has also announced that the number of polling booths will be increased and the voting time enhanced by an hour in UP in a bid to prevent overcrowding. With 403 Assembly seats, UP will witness multi-phase polling. The key question is: Will the ECI compress the elections into as few phases as possible or stagger them, like it did in West Bengal last year? Voting in West Bengal, which has 294 Assembly seats, had been spread over eight phases and five weeks, leading to allegations from the Trinamool Congress and other parties that the prolonged schedule was aimed at favouring the ruling party at the Centre.

The 2021 elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry had coincided with the peak of the pandemic’s devastating second wave. The rallies and roadshows organised by various parties contributed to the fast-rising caseload as Covid protocols were blatantly violated. The ECI had been accused of remaining a mute spectator to the violations, even as the Madras High Court had held the poll panel ‘singularly responsible’ for the spread of the second wave in the country.

It is expected that the ECI would have learnt lessons from the 2021 experience and will get its act together this time right at the outset. Though it may not be feasible to impose a blanket ban on major rallies, detailed guidelines for streamlining these gatherings can be worked out. With the BJP expressing willingness to hold virtual rallies in view of the worsening Covid situation, the ECI can explore the option of encouraging all parties to go for the online mode of campaigning in a big way. The onerous task of ensuring free, fair and safe elections will surely test the poll panel to the hilt.

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