Summary:
Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) restricted all parties from conducting any kind of political rallies, meetings and political gatherings between 7 pm and 10 am during the days of the campaign from Friday (April 16) onwards and also extended the silence hours from 48 hours to 72 hours in the next phases of the election. The Commission has further directed all the candidates and political parties to ensure absolute adherence to Covid guidelines in letter and spirit. It shall be the responsibility of the organisers of public meetings, rallies, etc. to provide masks and sanitisers to every person attending these meetings, rallies, etc at their cost which shall be added and counted within limits of prescribed expenditure. On Friday, the Aariz Aftab, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bengal convened an all-party meeting in the city to discuss strategies to limit the spread of Covid-19 during public election rallies in Bengal..