Assembly Elections unlikely to be postponed

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is unlikely to postpone the state Assembly polls due early next year, news agency IANS said quoting sources. The health Secretary on Monday briefed the Commission about the Omicron threat in the country specially in the poll bound states. In the meeting, ECI has asked the Centre to speed up Covid-19 vaccination in poll-bound states.

The commission has also asked the government to vaccinate all those on election duty ahead of the polls. “The goal is to ensure everyone is fully vaccinated at the earliest in poll-bound states,” the commission said.

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan submitted a report to the commission according to which the assembly polls in Manipur, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and UP are likely to be held at the scheduled time as mandated by the Constitution. The assembly tenure of UP is due to end in May.

The assembly elections are scheduled for five states – Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Punjab in 2022. The dates could be announced in the first week of January, said the source. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra and other officials are scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the poll preparedness on Tuesday.