Manipur polls: EC to meet state administration, political parties virtually today

Ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, the Election Commission will now hold a virtual meeting with top officials and representatives of political parties from Manipur. The EC will attend a meeting with all stakeholders on Wednesday to take stock of the situation in the state. According to sources, the EC will look to study the preparedness of the state through the virtual meet.

Being one of the five states where assembly elections are due in the coming months, the EC will hold a virtual meet with officials in Manipur. The commission had earlier visited states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand in order to take stock of the poll preparedness there. Meanwhile, sources have also confirmed that the EC will attend separate meetings with top state administration officials, representatives of political parties and those part of the poll machinery to look into the situation ahead of the Manipur polls.

Election Commission asks for maximum COVID vaccinations

The virtual meeting comes after the commission raised concern over the rising COVID-19 in the country. The EC on Tuesday took stock of the evolving coronavirus situation in the five poll-bound states and checked on the spread of the Omicron variant in these states. Earlier in a meeting, the commission had raised concern over lack of vaccination among people in the poll-bound states. During a meeting with Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on December 27, the EC had noted that the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur, had lesser percentage of people administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The panel is likely to announce the election dates for the five states in the first half of January. The decision will be made after deliberation over meetings with stakeholders of all states. Earlier, the EC had asked the administrations of the poll-bound states to step up the COVID vaccination efforts. The EC had also written to the chief secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab, informing them that polling personnel come under the category of frontline workers and are eligible for the "precaution dose" of the Covid vaccines.

Omicron Count Soars To 1,892

WHO-acclaimed 'variant of concern', Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to grapple the country as the case count has climbed to 1,892 on Tuesday. While Maharashtra has reported the highest number of 568, Delhi's Omicron count crossed over 382. On January 4, 2022, the Ministry of Health stated that 37,379 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours. According to the health ministry, the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand currently has 8 cases each of the Omicron variant of COVD-19. Meanwhile, Goa, Manipur, and Punjab have one case each. 

(With PTI inputs)

Image: PTI/Facebook@ECI