Election Commission Of India English news | Election Commission Of India, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

Lucknow, Jan 10 After initially welcoming the Covid protocols announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in campaigning, political leaders are now developing cold feet on the issue.The temperature in political circles has fallen with the mercury, while apprehensions are growing.A sitting MLA, waiting in his car outside the BJP state headquarters, said: "We cannot publicly oppose the ECI's decision on virtual campaigning but the fact remains that this will not work in semi-urban and rural constituencies. The reality is that even those who have smartphones, use them only to watch movies and web series. My own driver says that he will not recharge his data to watch political events."While all parties claim to have a definite presence in the virtual world and exude confidence about campaigning on social media, it is the candidates and aspirants who are worried."Now that even cycle rallies have been banned, how do we connect with our voters? Electioneering involves a personal touch where you go and meet voters, seek their support and blessings. You cannot expect to get votes through WhatsApp message and Facebook," said a Samajwadi Party (SP) legislator.He said that there was insufficient time for door-to-door campaign too."My constituency goes to polls in the first phase and I cannot cover the entire constituency in this manner. People want to meet their candidates and virtual rallies by leaders are not enough."Several candidates are now apprehensive that if the curbs continue beyond January 15, it could impact voter turnout.A BSP candidate from Kanpur said that since there was no physical campaigning, voters cannot be mobilised only through the social media."We know how difficult it is to get voters-especially those from educated class-to come out and vote on the polling day. Most people prefer to relax at home since it is a holiday," he said.Political analysts, on the other, are still unsure about the impact that virtual campaigning will have on voter turnout.Senior journalist R.K. Singh said: "We still do not know how virtual campaigning will impact voter turnout. There are still people even in urban areas who are not active on the social media. The virtual campaign will have an impact on young voters but there is doubt about the elderly ones who may not be enthused enough to come out and vote."An election official, however, said that virtual campaigning will lead to a rise in voter turnout because voters in the state are "mature and smart".Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Election Commission Of IndiaFOLLOW

Election commission of india, Latest News

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows in the five poll-bound states till January 22. ...

Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday organized a meeting for observers, who will be deployed for the upcoming Assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa. ...

New Delhi, Jan 14 Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra on Friday said that the 'poll observers' are ... ...

Lucknow, Jan 13 The Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission has said that voters above the age of 80 ... ...

Dr VK Paul, a Niti Aayog member, on Wednesday encouraged people to get vaccinated against coronavirus infection at the earliest and said, "vaccination is the critical pillar of our COVID-19 response and they are helpful to an extent". ...

A total of 18.34 crore electors including service voters will take part in the upcoming Assembly elections in Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission of India (ECI) informed on Saturday. ...

Union Minister of State for Defence and Tourism, Ajay Bhatt, on Monday assured that there will be no connectivity issue during digital rallies in Uttarakhand because Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is fully prepared for it. ...

Lucknow, Jan 10 After initially welcoming the Covid protocols announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in ... ...