GUWAHATI: The curtain will fall on the Assam Assembly election come May 2 when the results are announced, unless the outcome is contested by the political party or alliances that falls behind in the race to Dispur. While this may be unlikely and in the best interest of the state what cannot be overlooked is that elections have been held at one of the most challenging times amid the surge of the Coronavirus.
However, on May 2 that is on Sunday, millions of people will tune in and wait for the results. While the memories of the elections are something that many don’t’ want to recall, especially the huge election campaign rallies and irresponsible statements made by senior politicians that Assam is “free of Corona” and that “we don’t need to wear mask,” people are keen on knowing the outcome as on it will depend which government takes over the reins of power and takes the people and the State through the present challenges.
Many people are also furious at the Election Commission ate the way it has behaved and allowed political parties to hold rallies without following any safety protocols. To them it matters little that the commission is now talking about following restrict regulations during counting. “Yes, we want the count to take place without any violations, but the Election Commission has already caused much damage,” said an angry resident of the city when asked to share his thoughts.
With the COVID-19 cases rising every day, and the deteriorating situation of the entire state, many people feel that the Election Commission of India, should have been more careful with the organizing of the election rallies and convoys, which people believe might have worked as a massive COVID-19 spreader.
"Holding of election rallies was a big mistake, that is when the surge in COVID-19 starting happening in the state again. No protocols were followed during the election period. Once the spike in cases happened, political leaders either canceled their visits or did the rally online. Why didn't they think of this before?" a government school teacher told G Plus.
Even Indian Medical Association (IMA) vice president Dr. Navjot Dahiya recently claimed that the Prime Minister did not take any steps to strengthen the health system, and instead held poll rallies which acted as a "super spreader" of the coronavirus. Hit by accusations and faced with the ire of the courts which has held the Election Commission of India (ECI) responsible for the surge in Coronavirus cases in India, the latter has come up with some new ground rules for everyone (involved) to follow. The ECI made it mandatory for all candidates and agents to have either negative COVID-19 test results or both doses of a vaccine before entering the counting halls on May 2, when voters of the five Assembly polls are tabulated.
The ECI also banned all victory processions on May 2 and restricted the number of people accompanying winning candidates to collect their certificate of election from the Returning Officer to two.
“In view of the second wave of pandemic and in order to ensure complete safety, arrangements during counting (votes), the Commission has been regularly consulting the Chief Secretaries and the Chief Electoral Officers of all five States/UT (West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry) and has taken their views and safety measures/ protocol to be followed,” an ECI statement said.
“No candidates/agents will be allowed inside the counting hall without undergoing RT-PCR/RAT test or without having two doses of vaccination against Covid-19 and will have to produce negative RT-PCR report or RAT report or vaccination reports within 48 hours of the start of counting,” the EC instructions read.
Additionally, no public gathering outside the counting venue shall be allowed during the process of counting, the statement added. Moreover, counting halls should be large enough to maintain physical distancing and have adequate ventilation. The counting centers as well as sealed outer boxes of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) should be sanitized. If required, postal ballots could be counted in separate halls, it said.
Everything looks good on paper, but it would be interesting to see how far the guidelines are respected this time. The problem is ECI top officials in the state appear to be increasingly inaccessible more so after the flurry of charges against their actions or rather inaction during the election period. For instance, the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam, Nitin Khade when contacted seemed reluctant to speak. On being asked about the measures in place and how effective these would be, he simply said, “it’s all available on the website please check it out.”
On the other hand, and very interestingly so senior politicians are still of the opinion that assembly elections had anything to do with the COVID surge in the state. Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said earlier there is no link between election campaign rallies and rising Covid-19 cases in Assam and studies have in fact shown that not a single COVID-19 case has been reported from the places where campaign rallies were held. “We carried out studies to see if there was any link between election rallies and new COVID cases but studies have shown that not a single case has been reported from any of the rally venues," Sarma said.
The Assam health Minister who campaigned for most part of the elections without wearing a mask and was seen mingling with huge crowds may have forgotten what medical experts and science says about virus and diseases connected with it. A virus like the COVID-19 and the new variants may come externally, like Sarma says, “brought by people coming from outside,” but it needs an ecosystem to thrive in and spread and huge gatherings of people acts as a readymade environment to breed and then spread in the population. The Madras High Court against the backdrop of the pandemic on Thursday, April 29 went so far as to pulling up the ECI saying that it should be “put up on murder charges for being the most irresponsible institution” "What were you doing for last 10 to 14 months?", the Madras High Court criticized the Centre's preparedness in relation to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Why are we acting only now in April, though we had one full year?" the Madras High Court further asked. Assam state government and ECI should also realize the repercussions that they failed to foresee or straight-up ignored during the Assembly election in the state. It should be prepared to answer tough questions like these if the COVID-19 situation in the state further escalates following the vote counting day.