A ban on victory processions was one of the several restrictions imposed by the Election Commission to check the spread of Covid-19 when it announced the poll schedule for five states on January 8. It also barred political parties from holding political rallies, roadshows and street corner meetings and told parties to opt for virtual rallies instead. These restrictions were gradually relaxed, as the commission reviewed the situation on a periodic basis.
On Thursday, the commission said it carried out another review and decided to allow victory processions subject to state-level restrictions imposed by the state disaster management guidelines.
The relaxation came on a day the country, according to the health ministry website, has reported 4,184 new confirmed Covid-19 cases as against the 141,506 cases reported on January 8.
“During the period of elections as the Covid situation improved, Commission gradually relaxed the norms concerning electioneering in consultation with Union health ministry and state governments,” the commission said in a statement.
“Viewing the current status of Covid-19 in these poll going states, commission has decided to relax the guidelines on victory processions during and after the counting and has withdrawn the blanket ban on victory processions. However, this relaxation will be subject to existing instructions of SDMA and preventive measures, imposed by concerned district authorities,” it added.
Thursday’s statement coincided with the counting of votes in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in four out of the five states. In Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in the lead as of afternoon trends on the Election Commission website.
