Bhubaneswar: In view of the current status of COVID-19 in the five States where polling was held on January 8, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to relax the guidelines on victory processions during and after the counting of votes and has withdrawn the blanket ban on victory processions.
However, this relaxation will be subject to existing instructions of the respective State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) and preventive measures, imposed by concerned district authorities, stated the Commission on Thursday.
The ECI had announced General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand on January 8. Along with the announcement of the elections, Commission also issued Revised Broad Guidelines to regulate various aspects of elections including victory processions during the period of COVID.
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.
