Group of 5 persons including candidate to be allowed for door to door campaigning

Feb. 26: The schedule for the forthcoming Assam Assembly Elections, 2021 was declared by Sunil Arora, 23rd Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) in an important press conference on Friday evening. Election Commission of India (ECI) announced dates for elections to the legislative assemblies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry today during the press meet.

Guidelines for Campaign by the political parties/contesting candidates:

Public gatherings/ rallies may be conducted subject to adherence to extant COVID-19 guidelines. District Election Officer should take following steps for this purpose:
(a) District Election Officer should, in advance, identify dedicated grounds for public gathering with clearly marked Entry/Exit points.
(b) In all such identified grounds, the District Election Officer should, in advance, put markers to ensure social distancing norms by the attendees.
(c) Nodal District Health Officer should be involved in the process to ensure that all COVID-19 related guidelines are adhered to by all concerned in the district.
(d) District Election Officer and District Superintendent of Police should ensure that the number of attendees does not exceed the limit prescribed by State Disaster Management Authority for public gatherings.
(e) DEO should depute Sector Health Regulators to oversee that COVID-19 instructions/guidelines are being followed during these meetings.

(f) The political parties and candidates concerned should ensure that all COVID19 related requirement like face masks, sanitizers, thermal scanning etc. are fulfilled during each of these activities.
(g) Allocation of public spaces must be done using Suvidha app in the manner already prescribed by Commission.
(h) Non-compliance of Instructions – Anybody violating instructions on COVID19 measures will be liable to proceeded against as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under Section 188 of the IPC, and other legal provisions as applicable, as specified in Order No. 40-3/2020-DM-I(A) dated 25th November, 2020 of Ministry of Home Affairs. District Election Officer should bring this to the notice of all concerned.