The Opposition on Thursday urged the Assam State Election Commission to postpone the polling for the Bodoland Territorial Council scheduled for April 4 in view of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
The Congress and the Left Democratic Manch (LDM), a common platform of 10 parties, wrote to Election Commissioner Alok Kumar, seeking a decision in this regard considering the "threat to people's lives".
For the 40 constituencies of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), the polling is scheduled for April 4. The counting of votes will take place on April 8.
"The Government of Assam and the Assam State Election Commission are going ahead with the process of holding elections to the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) Council despite this grim scenario," Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, said in the letter.
"Is the physiology of the residents of the BTR so different from that of residents of other parts of Assam that they run no risk of getting infected or spreading the coronavirus," he asked.
In fact, some eligible prospective candidates are likely to stay away altogether from the election process in view of the threat posed by coronavirus, which has been already declared as a national disaster by the Union government, he added.
"More importantly, numerous prudent electors are sure to avoid the crowded polling booths and refrain from casting their votes. I hardly need to iterate that lives and well-being of the common people are more precious than politics.
I feel that to ensure that the BTR Council elections are not only free and fair but also conducive to public health, they need to be postponed in accordance with the recommendations of the ICMR and the policy adopted by the Government of India," Saikia said.
The senior Congress leader said the dates for the submission, scrutiny and the withdrawal of nominations should also be notified afresh.
Saikia also wrote a similar letter with identical content to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, requesting him to postpone the elections.
In a separate letter to the commissioner, the LDM requested to review the schedule for the elections as panic surrounding the COVID-19 increasing across the country.
"It is the considered opinion of the constituent parties of the Left Democratic Manch, that the BTC Election should be postponed for the time being in view of the excruciating situation arising out of the impending coronavirus outbreak," the letter said.
The parties pointed out that the West Bengal Election Commission has already postponed the civic polls in the state after political parties expressed concern over the deadly disease.
"The Assam State Election Commission too should revisit the BTC poll schedule, taking into account the totality of circumstances and the contemporaneous situation. The political parties should also be taken into confidence in this regard. The BTAD areas cannot be treated as an isolated island immune from any viral infections, including COVID-19," they said.
If the polling date is not rescheduled, the virus panic and fear to participate in gatherings will create major problems for the political parties to organise poll campaigns and rallies in the run-up to the elections, the letter said.
Member parties of the LDM are the CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML), RCPI, NCP, RJD, AAP, Liberal Democratic Party, Janata Dal (S) and the Asom Sangrami Mancha.
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