Uttarakhand Election 2022: State govt bans all political rallies till Jan 16 ahead of poll dates announcement

Following the rising Covid-19 cases in the state, the Uttarakhand government has banned all political rallies, dharnas, and demonstrations till January 16, ahead of the Assembly election. Also, the Uttarakhand High Court will shift to a virtual hearings system from January 10 till further notification in the view of the Covid-19 third wave threat.

The state government has imposed a night curfew to curb the spread of the virus from 10 pm to 6 am. The new guidelines issued by the Chief Secretary SS Sandhu late Friday said political rallies, dharnas, demonstrations, and public events such as cultural gatherings would remain suspended till January 16.

The Uttarakhand HC notice states it will take up all new and pending matters, including bail applications, writ petitions criminal, urgency applications, criminal miscellaneous applications, writ petitions seeking relief against ejection, eviction, and various other cases through video conferencing.
 

Also Read: Election Commission to announce schedule for Assembly elections in 5 states at 3:30 pm

Meanwhile, gyms, shopping malls, cinema halls, spas, salons, entertainment parks, theatres, and auditoriums have been allowed to remain open with 50 per cent occupancy. Wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and hand sanitization is mandatory in public places.

For tourists visiting Uttarakhand, who are not vaccinated with two doses, it's mandatory to carry an RT-PCR negative report not older than 72 hours, the notice read.

Uttarakhand registered 630 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The state total Covid-19 cases rose to 3,47,098. With 1,425 active cases, the positivity rate of the state is 3.74%. In the last 24 hours, three people have died due to Covid-19. The total number of fatalities stands at 7,423 in the state. 

• COVID-19
• Chief Secretary SS Sandhu
• High Court of Uttarakhand
• Uttarakhand
• assembly election
• fresh guidelines