Reactions from political parties to the Allahabad High Court’s appeal — to the Central government and the Election Commission of India to put a halt to poll rallies and consider postponing Assembly elections to five States — ranged from agreeing that the EC should weigh in on the matter to demanding action against the judge who made the remarks.
Speaking to news wire ANI, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav said: “It is unfortunate that people sitting in important Constitutional positions are now giving such decisions. No one had demanded it and my demand is that the Supreme Court take suo motu notice and take proper action against the person giving such directions.”
He apprehended that the Union government led by the BJP may take the judge’s remarks as a cue to postpone polls, stating that “in Uttar Pradesh, the public is against the BJP. The BJP is going to lose the elections.”
The ruling BJP meanwhile stated the constitutional position when it came to organising elections. “When the Election Commission of India implements the model code of conduct, they have to decide when the elections will take place,” said Union Minister Anurag Thakur.
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The Congress on Friday said the Election Commission should weigh in on the danger posed by the spread of Omicron strain of coronavirus. “It is the duty of the Election Commission to weigh in on the situation, consult all political parties and build a consensus so that the situation remains under control,” Pranav Jha, secretary (communications) of the Congress, said. Mr Jha further said the party would support any step that would help in saving even one life.
“The Congress and its leadership had forewarned the Modi government about the enormity of the second wave, which the government chose to ignore. As of now, when we were supposed to have fully vaccinated our entire population, the government is way off the mark. Rest of the world has already gone ahead vaccinating children and even administering booster shots. PM Modi neither has a plan nor looks concerned about the challenge,” Mr. Jha added.
Apart from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the other election-bound States are Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. In 2017, the last time Assembly elections were held in these States, U.P. had a seven-phase poll, while Manipur had a two-phase election. All other States had a single-phase poll.
