Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: All Political Parties Want UP Polls to be held as Per Schedule Ensuring COVID-19 Protocol, Says CEC Sushil Chandra
All political parties in Uttar Pradesh unanimously agreed that the Assembly polls in the state should be conducted as per schedule while following coronavirus protocol, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said on Thursday.
A team led by Chandra visited Uttar Pradesh to assess the situation and meet representatives of political parties after the High Court last week requested the election commission to postpone the upcoming Assembly elections due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The elections in Uttar Pradesh is politically significant as the state has the most number of Lok Sabha seats that play a crucial role in General Elections.
The situation arising out of the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus was also reviewed. It has been noted that “there was not much impact of the latest variant in the state where only four cases were reported and three of them have recovered”, Chandra said.
At a press conference on Thursday, Chandra said representatives of parties had also brought up political rallies being held in violation of Covid protocols and had asked for restrictions to be put in place. Detailed guidelines on holding rallies will be issued soon. Chandra said voting time will be extended by an hour on the date of polling, from 8 am to 6 pm, and 11,000 booths will be added to ensure that voters are following physical distancing norms. “The staff deployed at voting booths across the state will be fully vaccinated,” the poll panel chief said.
