Odisha ballot panel eases curbs, lifts ban on public conferences for panchayat polls

By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: With the regular decline in Covid-19 infections over the last week, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Monday eased restrictions for campaigning within the panchayat polls by lifting the ban on public conferences and rising the cap on door-to-door canvassing.

State Election Commissioner (SEC) AP Padhi informed media individuals that public conferences could be organised by political events/contesting candidates with the prior permission of the suitable authority with a most of 300 individuals in open floor topic to strict observance of Covid-19 protocols together with use of face masks and adhering to social distancing.

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Besides, the SEC additionally allowed door-to-door marketing campaign by 20 individuals together with the candidate from the current 5. The recent orders shall be efficient from February 7. The Commission mentioned that the choice to chill out restrictions was taken after a evaluation of the current state of affairs and developments referring to the Covid-19 pandemic in a digital assembly with the district collectors on Monday.

The SEC mentioned that the Commission had reserved the appropriate to change the rules issued for panchayat polls on January 10 after taking the current state of affairs into consideration. The panchayat polls shall be held in 5 phases between February 16 and 24. The counting of votes shall be held on February 26, 27, and 28.