The Election Commission of India on Wednesday issued detailed guidelines to ensure Covid-19 protocols are obeyed at the 705 counting centres in Bengal, to which Trinamul responded by saying the four-page directive had several “contradictions” needing immediate redress.
Counting of votes of the Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Assembly elections will be held on Sunday, May 2.
The EC, following a recent prod from the Madras High Court, has been trying to ensure adherence to Covid-19 protocols in the last phase of polls in Bengal on Thursday, and Sunday’s counting process.
For this, the poll panel issued a set of guidelines signed by Sumit Mukherjee, a senior principal secretary of the EC, which said that candidates and counting agents would be allowed inside the counting centres only if they produce a negative RT-PCR or RAT test report or have taken both doses of the vaccine against the coronavirus.
“No candidates/agents will be allowed inside the counting hall without undergoing RT-PCR/RAT test or without having 2 doses of vaccination against Covid-19 and will have to produce Negative RT-PCR report or RAT report or Vaccination reports within 48 hours of start of counting…”the list of instructions issued by the poll body read.
To this, Trinamul quickly reacted by flagging several inconsistencies in the poll panel’s directive.
“…the time mandated for providing such a negative report has been stated as ‘within 48 hours of start of counting’, which effectively means by 4 May 2021. Please clarify your intentions,” a letter written by Trinamul’s Rajya Sabha member and national spokesperson Derek O’ Brien to the commission, read.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Election Commission sources said there was “nothing confusing” about its guidelines.
The commission has specified that the RT-PCR or RAT test report cannot be older than 48 hours from May 2, a source said.
Trinamul, in the same letter, also asked for a clarification on the time frame and procedure of replacement of a counting agent who tests positive in the RT-PCR or RAT test.
The EC’s set of guidelines mandated candidates to submit the list of counting agents by 5pm on April 29 and kept a provision for their replacement, in case they are found Covid-positive.
Multiple officials at the Bengal chief electoral office have said that following recent observations of the Madras High Court related to the EC’s role in allowing rallies, among others, amid the second wave of the pandemic, it had become an immense challenge for the poll panel to adhere to Covid-19 safety norms during counting.
District electoral officers (DEOs) have been assigned the charge of nodal officer at each counting centre. It will be the responsibility of each DEO to arrange the RT-PCR or RAT tests of candidates and agents.
According to guidelines, agents will be made to sit in an arrangement so that between two counting agents, one will be wearing PPE.
Sufficient number of PPEs will have to be arranged for this, the poll commission said. Along with these, there were usual instructions on the use of masks and sanitisation.
On Tuesday, the EC had disallowed any victory procession after counting. On Wednesday, it barred any kind of “public gathering outside the counting venue” when counting is on.
The commission’s guidelines released on Wednesday came after several rounds of discussions, but Trinamul’s queries have to be addressed soon, said a source at the chief electoral office.
“If the issues aren’t taken care of, the inconsistencies will be taken to the court and the Election Commission’s prudence will be questioned yet again,” the source said.