As per the poll schedule, notification for the President election will be issued on June 15 and the last day of filing nomination will be June 29.
The Trinamool Congress state general secretary and the party spokesman, Kunal Ghosh tried to downplay the incident claiming that the entire incident took place due to some misunderstanding.
The EC clarified that it does not have the power to deregister a political party, except on three grounds, which were outlined by the top court in the case of the Indian National Congress Vs the Institute of Social Welfare and others (2002).
The poll panel also said that the decision came after the numbers of both active and new COVID-19 cases have been receding and the restrictions put in place both by the Central Government and State Governments to check the spread of pandemic are being lifted or relaxed gradually.
The BJP also urged the Commission to immediately issue guidelines related to the strong room where the ballot boxes will be kept after the polls, till the beginning of counting
Assembly polls are scheduled in five states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Punjab.
The Odisha State Election Commission (SEC) has come under intense backlash from the BJP for allegedly showing favour to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ahead of the elections to various Panchayat Raj institutions and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the State.
The assembly election in five poll-bound states are scheduled to begin from February 10. Polling in Uttar Pradesh will take place in seven phases, while Manipur will vote in two phases, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will vote for assembly election in a single phase.
The ECI has also directed the social media platform companies to ensure compliance with the voluntary code of ethics amid heavy online campaigning due to ban of rallies.
The bench asked the lawyer not to name a state and refer to the pleadings to suggest the remedy to control the menace.
In a statement, the Commission said polls would now be held on February 20. It coincides with the third phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the ministry, the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in his meeting with ECI presented the overall global and domestic status of spread of Covid, as well as Omicron, in the country.
The EC has issued a total of 26 additional symbols including Banyan Tree, Motor Car, Lantern, Brinjal, Basket, Candles etc for election to the office of Sarpanch.
Asked about the Omicron spread in the next three months, the health secretary said that nothing can be said at the moment.
As Odisha heads towards the Panchayat polls early next year, the elections for the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) including three Municipal Corporations and 107 Municipalities will be held after that.
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