Covid Booster Dose Must For Election Officials, Rallies Banned Till Jan 15. Full List Of Pandemic Guidelines

For the first time ever, the election commission of India on Saturday announced a campaign curfew in the five poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand as it announced the complete schedule of the election, starting from February 10.

As of now, no rallies will be allowed till January 15, the election commission said. The situation is dynamic and will be reviewed only after January 15, the CEC said.

Here are the Covid-19 guidelines

1. No roadshow, padyatra and rally will be held till January 15.

2. No nukkad sabhas will be allowed on public roads.

3. No victory procession after the counting by the political rallies.

4. Only five people will be allowed for dor-to-dor campaigning.

5. Election Commission will not hesitate to cancel rallies if Covid protocols are violated.

6. Chief secretary, district magistrates will be personally responsible for violation of Covid rules during the polling.

7. Keeping in mind the pandemic situation, polling time has been increased by an hour in all these states.

8. Candidates are encouraged to minimise physical campaigning and increase virtual campaigning.

9. Each political party/candidate shall furnish an undertaking in the application form (under Suvidha) that it shall abide by all the Covid-19 guidelines.

10. Campaign curfew between 8pm and 8am: There will be no campaigning during this time on any day.

11. If a convoy is taken out, then it has to be broken after every five vehicles.

12. The maximum number of star campaigners had been brought down from 40 to 30 for national and state parties. For smaller, unrecognised parties, the number has been brought down to 15 in place of 20.