No public rallies, foot marches or roadshows can be held in Bengal for the last two rounds of the assembly elections, the Election Commission said this evening — hours after it was ordered to take action in view of the rising Covid cases by the Calcutta High Court.
All previous orders for rallies and roadshows stand cancelled and only meetings that are attended by no more than 500 people, will be allowed, the Commission said.
The election commission has noted “with anguish” that many political parties, candidates are not adhering to prescribed safety norms during public gatherings.
Meanwhile, after EC’s decision to restrict campaign, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared that all her prescheduled public meetings stand cancelled.
According to the TMC, Mamata Banerjee was slated to address four public meetings on Friday. The first was to be held in Durgapur West at 11 am followed by another at the Sripur Area Stadium in Bardhaman West at 12 pm.
She was then scheduled to canvas on behalf of Trinamool Congress candidates in Asansol at 1 pm and later address a fourth public meeting in Birbhum at 2 pm.
The sixth phase of the West Bengal assembly election were held on Thursday for 43 seats recorded a voter turnout of 79.09 per cent till 5 pm, the Election Commission (EC) said.
A total of 7,466 out of the 14,480 polling stations across the constituencies were monitored live through webcasting, even as drones were used to keep a watch over the vote proceedings, the EC said in a statement.
