Amid covid-19 pandemic the first set of elections to be held in India – particularly Bihar assembly polls – guidelines with restrictions on public presence at campaign rallies has been finalised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in door-to-door political outreach, in polling booths, and inside counting halls, to ensure strict social distancing, four officials familiar with the decision-making process told HT.
The contours of ECI’s new plan for elections in the “new normal” are being adopted even as political parties have offered varied suggestions to the constitutional body, from deferring polls altogether to holding them in one phase, from reverting to ballot papers to allowing physical (and not just virtual) rallies, and from increasing the limits on poll expenditure by candidates to exempting those expenses incurred while enhancing Covid-19 precautions.
ECI received the inputs from State election officials, too.
Since the pandemic took place, while elections have taken place in other countries including in Sri Lanka recently, elections in India have only been confined to polls to the Rajya Sabha and legislative council seats, which involve a limited set of voters. Experts believe that the election paradigm adopted for Bihar will have significant implications for political contests, and have a medium-term impact since other state elections are due in the middle of 2020.
On Friday, suggestions received from political parties has been reviewed by ECI,to conduct elections to the 243-member Bihar assembly (its term ends in November) and subsequently held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss a wide-ranging organisational framework, is likely to issue the guidelines over the next three days. Elections to the Samastipurparliamentary constituency and 56 assembly constituencies (across eight states) elsewhere are also scheduled to be held from September, officials familiar with the matter said.
”Polling stations, counting halls and public meetings would be the three subjects where the guidelines would be centred around,” said an ECI official. “For example, in the counting hall we used to have 14 tables, now we have slashed the number to seven.”
Physical rallies
Rallies plays a vital role for political parties, which have traditionally served as a key political tool for mobilising voters and communicating messages by leaders. Due to this pandemic and push towards digital campaigning, the main concern for the parties is that the direct interface with voters, especially those who lack digital access, will get affected if physical rallies are not allowed.
Since the voters in rural and semi-urban areas may not have access to mobile devices and the internet, The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is part of the ruling dispensation in Bihar, has asked the poll panel to allow physical meetings and rallies in the rural and semi urban areas, people familiar with the matter said. In its submission to ECI, the party has said that all party workers, campaigners and leaders must have the Aarogya Setu app downloaded on their phones at all times, and adequate social distancing has to be maintained during roadshows and processions. In case, physical rallies are permitted, the party has suggested having enclosures with limited seating, separate exit and entry points, and use of sanitisers and thermal scanners at all points of entry and exit.
Other parties such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and a BJP ally, the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP), too have said that till physical rallies are allowed, elections must not take place.
Poll expenses
The other concern for parties is poll expenses. The limit on expenditure should be increased for the candidates, or alternatively all expenditure which is borne on purchasing equipment to safeguard against Covid-19 be exempted from being charged to the candidates account, suggested BJP. There have been other suggestions on how there should be new limits on social media expenditure of parties given the increased reliance on digital medium due to the pandemic.
“Social media campaigning was always allowed, even before the pandemic. Expenditure limits that exist will apply,” official said. Political parties do not have a limit on the expenditure, but a candidate is allowed to spend a maximum of ₹28 lakh, including all election costs.
Directions for the number of electors per polling booth will be limited to a maximum 1,000 compared with 1,600 earlier has been issued by the Commission. A number of auxiliary polling stations will be created to accommodate the voters. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on June 27 told HT that 36,000 polling stations will be created in Bihar.
Other suggestions
Voters should be given ballet paper so that they are not susceptible to the infection while pressing the buttons on the electronic voting machines (EVMs) suggested The Congress, the RJD and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen. This demand, officials indicated, is unlikely to be met.
By polls in some states should be postponed even further. On August 14, HT reported that chief secretaries of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat, and the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Kerala, had written to the commission, citing rising Covid-19 cases and heavy rains, to consider deferring the by-polls.
There will not be much of a difference to the functioning of the assembly if one or two by polls defers. However, if assembly elections are deferred, President’s rule will have to be imposed. That can only be done under two circumstances which constitute an emergency — external aggression and internal rebellion, said Quraishi.”
Quraishi also said that the EC should consider capping expenditure by political parties on campaign.
