EC Urges States, UT To Not Conduct Victory Processions

Amidst the counting of votes, the Election Commission of India (ECI) wrote to Chief Secretaries of four states and a union territory asking to prohibit victory celebrations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an order issued on Sunday, ECI stated that responsible station house officers (SHO) should be suspended and "displinary" actions be taken against them.

 "It has been brought to the attention of the Commission through media that at certain locations in some states, public celebrations in the context of today's counting are being carried out which is in contravention of the directions issued by the Election Commission," it said.

Earlier in April, ECI had issued an order banning all victory processions on or after May 2 in view of the worsening COVID-19 situation in India.

Despite the ban, party workers of Tamil Nadu's DMK and Bengal's ruling TMC were spotted outside their party headquarters celebrating in large numbers after official trends show their parties are leading in polls.

The single-phased Tamil Nadu Assembly elections is currently underway with early trends showing DMK leading in 133 seats while the ruling AIADMK leading in 97 seats.

On the other hand, initial trends show that Bengal's ruling TMC is leading with 202 seats while the BJP with 86 seats. It also suggests that the party would be crossing the halfway mark of 294 assembly seats.