New Delhi: A plea was moved Tuesday in the Delhi High Court. The plea moved by Vikram Singh, the former DGP of Uttar Pradesh sought directions to the Election Commission to take action like imposing penalty and lodging FIRs against ‘star campaigners’ and leaders of all political parties. The petitioner said all these persons have allegedly violating COVID-19 norms during the Assembly polls in West Bengal.
Singh is also the chairman of think tank ‘Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC)’. He has also sought directions to the Centre and the Election Commission to ‘ensure compulsory home quarantine of persons who campaigned in the last one week of in West Bengal’.
Singh, represented by advocate Virag Gupta, claimed in his plea that ‘masking rules were flouted with impunity’ by the political parties, their leaders and campaigners during the rallies, public meetings and roadshows conducted during the ongoing pandemic.
This ‘unhindered and uncared-for all out campaigning’ has resulted in the rise in coronavirus cases in West Bengal where the positivity rate has gone up from five to 24 per cent. The application further contended that ‘the lackadaisical action of ECI in implementing its own guidelines and non-cancellation of permission given for roadshows and rallies is evident from the number of campaigners catching COVID’.
“The Election Commission had guidelines for conduct of general elections/bye-elections during COVID-19 published in August 2020, but failed to implement the same,” it said and sought prosecution of ECI officials ‘who failed to enforce their own mandatory COVID guidelines’.
“Whatever little action that the commission is now taking is only under huge public pressure and amounts to only lip service,” the plea contended.
The application also alleged that ‘most of the political leaders who were involved in election campaigning were not seen to be following any rules on home quarantine, even after their contacts were turning out to be COVID positive’.