Assam civic polls on March 6, ban on roadshows and rallies

Guwahati: The elections for 80 municipal boards across Assam will be held on March 6, the

state election commission

said in a notification on Wednesday. The model code of conduct has come into effect in the respective municipal board areas with the announcement of poll date. The last date of nomination is February 15 and scrutiny of nominations will be done on February 17. February 20 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature and counting of EVMs will be done on March 9. There are 2,054 polling stations across municipal boards where elections will be held for 977 wards. Only for Silchar Municipal Board (SMB), a notification has not been issued as the subject of election to

SMB

is sub-judice in the Gauhati High Court. For the first time, EVMs are going to be used in any local body elections in the state and the voting machines will be used in all the polling stations. The published electoral rolls for the municipal boards with respect to January 1, 2022 will be used for the elections. In view of the Covid situation, the state election commission has banned roadshows,

padayatras alongwith cycle

, motorcycle and vehicle rallies and processions in the towns where the elections will be held. State election commissioner Alok Kumar said till February 15, the commission will review Covid situation. “If there is any change in the Covid guidelines of the state government, we will accordingly review it. At a time, 15 persons or associates along with candidates can move in door-to-door campaigning,” said Kumar. An updated guideline for management of Covid-19 in the municipal elections has been prepared based on ECI guidelines with inputs from the state home department and state disaster management agency.