Representational image  |  Photo Credit: PTI
New Delhi: On Saturday, January 8, the Election Commission of India declared the schedule for assembly polls in the states of Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. While Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand will see voting in a single phase, Manipur would go to the polls in two phases and Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven phases. Voting in all five states will be held between Feb 10 and March 7, with the counting of votes scheduled for March 10. A total of 690 assembly constituencies will go to the polls in this election cycle, of which Uttar Pradesh is the biggest state set to vote on 403 seats, followed by Punjab with 117 seats, Uttarakhand with 70 seats, Manipur with 60 seats, and Goa with 40 seats.
With the announcement of polling dates for five states, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force with immediate effect and will be in force till the completion of the election in all five states. According to PTI, covid vaccination certificates issued in the five poll-bound states will not have Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo in line with the model code of conduct. It added that the Union Health Ministry has applied requisite filters on the Co-WIN platform to exclude the prime minister’s photo from the covid vaccine certificate.
In view of the rising number of covid cases, the Election Commission has put a ban on all physical rallies, roadshows, and padayatras till January 15. In addition to restrictions on election-related public events, other pandemic-related prepared measures include reduction of the number of electors at a polling station from 1500 to 1250 and an increase in the number of election booths to ensure social distancing; polling time has also been increased by an hour.
Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra stressed that any violation of covid guidelines will not be tolerated, including restrictions on physical events, adding that strict action will be taken against those found guilty. At the press briefing, Chandra said that all Election Commission officials and employees are to be treated like frontline workers and are eligible for vaccine boosters, adding that all central, state officials on election duty will be required to be fully vaccinated against covid.
The week-long ban on physical rallies has prompted political parties to hold virtual events for digital campaigning. According to reports, while the BJP plans to use 3D technology for ‘virtual rallies’, the Samajwadi Party and Congress are increased focus on social media campaigning for mass voter outreach. While speaking to Times Now, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav reiterated that resource-scared smaller parties lack the infrastructure to hold virtual rallies and made an appeal to the election commission to assist such parties.
While digital campaigning has become a character of elections in the past few years, switching to a one-stop digital-only campaigning mode poses a huge challenge vis-a-vis India’s struggle with the digital divide. According to ORF Report, 2020, rural broadband penetration in the country was only 29 per cent against a national average of 51 per cent. Moreover, Indian women are 15 per cent less likely to own a mobile phone, and 33 per cent less likely to use mobile internet services than men. In addition to these skewed numbers, there are also issues pertaining to digital literacy, internet affordability, and the problem of discerning fake news.
As political parties adapt to digital election campaigning, the state must ensure the digital transition is equitable in outlook as the pandemic is here to stay. While one election season might be too short a window to affect any meaningful change, it would be a good start en route to the 2024 General Elections.