The Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission (SEC) has refused to entertain the demands to postpone the counting of votes polled in the three-tier panchyat bodies elections which concluded on April 29. The SEC said that the counting of votes will commence as scheduled, from 8 am on May 2.
The SEC has already issued directions that all the polling agents and candidates will have to furnish negative RT-PCR reports for entry to the counting centres. Besides, all the counting centres will have medical help desks and everyone will be subject to thermal scanning before being allowed entry in the counting centres.
State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar said here on Friday that action would be taken under the Calamity Management Act, 2005, against anyone found violating Covid protocols during the counting of votes on May 2.
Presiding over a meeting with DMs on Thursday night, Kumar issued a slew of directives. The SEC has also announced complete ban on victory processions by candidates and their supporters.
It also made it mandatory for candidates to submit the list of counting agents to the district electoral officers by Friday. The measures came two days after the Allahabad High Court rapped the poll panel over the deaths of 135 teachers who were deployed on poll duty during the four-phase panchayat elections.
The commission said that the district administration will ensure no crowding takes place at the place of counting. It also banned the entry of people without masks and having symptoms like fever, cold and cough.