New Delhi, 12/2: The Election Commission on Saturday relaxed restrictions imposed due to Covid-19 on campaigning for assembly elections in five states, allowing padyatras with a limited number of people and also reduced the duration of the ban on campaigning.
The Election Commission has now allowed political parties to campaign padyatra with a limited number of people. Along with this, the election commission has extended the campaign time by 4 hours. Now political parties will be able to campaign from 6 am to 10 pm. Earlier, campaigning was allowed only from 8 am to 8 pm.
The Election Commission on January 8, while announcing the polling schedule for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur, had banned direct rallies, road shows and padyatras due to the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. The Commission is reviewing the pandemic situation from time to time and giving some relaxations.