All indications are that elections to the five state assemblies – Goa, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab – will be held on time, regardless of the rising new wave of COVID-19. India’s three-member Election Commission (ECI) has visited four states in the past weeks to assess preparedness, which is usually one of the last steps before the announcement of the election schedule. It is expected to visit Manipur soon. Conducting elections in normal times is one thing, but doing so in the midst of a pandemic is quite another. On the Election Commission’s visit to UP last week, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra said that all parties want elections to be held on time, He said the Election Commission would look into implementing COVID-appropriate practices in campaigning and voting after the announcement of the schedule. After the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into force, ECI’s COVID related restrictions, which was first prepared in August 2020 before the Bihar assembly elections, will also be in vogue. The rules include compulsory wearing of masks during the entire election process, from campaigning to casting votes, holding rallies in marked grounds with social distancing measures and reducing the number of people allowed in road shows. In the wake of the second wave of the pandemic in April 2021, the Election Commission took more measures such as a longer silent period before voting, reducing time for campaigning.
The election season has begun in view of the inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremonies of government projects by the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and Ministers. on January 2, Prime Minister laid the foundation of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University In Meerut, with a large, mostly masked crowd in attendance. Huge gatherings are being organized by all the parties in the election states. Official events are being turned into campaign opportunities by those in power, raising a different question of propriety. The MCC imposes special sanctions on the party in power, which it says “will ensure that no cause is given for any complaint that it has used its official position for the purposes of its election campaign”. However, till the announcement of elections, it is only a question of decency and propriety of those in power. In most cases, the lines between a political party rally and a government function are blurred for the benefit of the BJP. Once the election schedule is announced, the burden of being fair and looking fair will be on the Election Commission. In the last round of elections, its conduct was questioned on various legitimate grounds. The Election Commission should take political parties into confidence and ensure a conducive environment for a fair election process that also limits public health risks.
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