Mamata Banerjee cites Covid, says club remaining election phases; Not possible, replies EC

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Thursday ruled out any change in schedule of West Bengal polls, rejecting chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s appeal through social media to hold the remaining phases in one go in view of a “surge” in Covid-19 cases.
“Clubbing the remaining phases is out of question. The notifications for all the phases have been issued and the nomination process is over.It is not possible to make any changes in the schedule at this stage. There is no such plan or discussion in EC,” a senior EC functionary told TOI on Thursday.
The fifth phase of polling in Bengal is scheduled for Saturday, followed by three more phases on April 22, 26 and 29. The EC functionary said there was no formal communication from either Banerjee or TMC seeking clubbing of the remaining phases. The appeal was only on social media, he said.
In a tweet on Thursday, Banerjee said, “Amid an ongoing pandemic, we firmly opposed EC’s decision to conduct West Bengal polls in eight phases. Now, in view of the huge surge in Covid-19 cases, I urge the EC to consider holding the remaining phases in one go...”
Sources said there was little scope for any revision in EC’s guidelines on Covid-safe campaigning either, irrespective of calls from several parties to restrict physical rallies. “Only 11-12 days of campaigning are remaining. Also, the number of Covid-positive cases in districts where polling is to be held in the remaining phases, barring Kolkata, is very low. Even in Kolkata, the cases are much less as compared to the situation in other metros and big cities,” an officer said.
The EC is working to ensure smooth conduct of polls despite many members of its staff, including some senior officials, testing Covid-positive.
Incidentally, the EC allowed physical rallies in addition to virtual programmes while issuing guidelines for the Bihar polls in August 2020, based on demands from several opposition parties, including Congress and Left. These parties requested the EC to allow door-to-door canvassing and physical campaigning, arguing that limiting the campaign to digital mode would put ‘rich’ parties like BJP at an undue advantage.
While it remains to be seen what arguments these very parties, besides TMC, put forward at the all-party meeting convened by the Bengal chief electoral officer on Friday to ensure strict adherence to Covid-19 guidelines, a source said any change in the mode of campaigning was unlikely.
Only recently, the poll panel had reiterated its guidelines, advising political leaders to set an example by wearing masks and asking all those in attendance at their rallies to do so too, use sanitisers and follow social distancing norms. It had further cautioned that in cases of breach, the EC would not hesitate in banning public meetings of the defaulting candidates.