Election Commission wants all victory celebrations to stop
The Election Commission on Sunday asked the Chief Secretaries of all states and Union Territories (UTs) to ensure that no victory celebrations take place. The directive came after supporters of several parties came on the streets after initial trends indicated what the final results would look like. Earlier, the polling body had banned victory rallies on and after May 2, considering the coronavirus situation.
In West Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress seems poised for a third straight term, dozens of party supporters came on the streets to celebrate the win. They disrespected coronavirus-appropriate behavior — most of them neither maintained social distance nor wore masks. Similar scenes were reported from Tamil Nadu. Supporters of DMK fed each other sweets and danced on the roads.
#WATCH | A police personnel instructs TMC supporters to stop celebrations in Asansol
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2021
EC asks States/UTs to "prohibit victory celebrations urgently", also directs that responsible SHOs/officers must be suspended immediately and criminal disciplinary actions must be initiated pic.twitter.com/QUuVO3CrzV
Taking cognizance of the worrying scenes, the EC told Chief Secretaries that such activities "must be prohibited urgently." "The Commission has viewed it very seriously and again directed that all necessary actions must be taken to ensure the strict compliance of its directions wherein all such activities have already been prohibited in view of the pandemic," the EC's notice read.
The EC also underlined that the "responsible SHOs and other officers must be placed under suspension immediately and criminal/disciplinary actions must be initiated against them". Separately, the apex polling body also sent a letter to heads of political parties about the behavior of their supporters. The parties were asked to restrain their followers from basking in celebrations and urge them to follow the guidelines.
Meanwhile, Sayan Deb Chatterjee, a member of the Trinamool Congress, said that the party is telling its workers not to celebrate due to the health crisis. "We really don't want to celebrate but there was an anti-campaign against TMC. Our workers were under pressure. This mandate has given them energy. Still, we're telling them not to celebrate due to the COVID-19 situation," he added.
Similarly, a DMK leader said the party wants supporters to celebrate from inside their homes. "The cadres are simply jubilant. Our leader's advice to the cadres is that let them celebrate from their homes as Election Commission is taking serious note of any violation. We are a responsible political party, " said TKS Elangovan. Celebrations have also been prohibited in Bengaluru city.
