GUWAHATI, March 22: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced a ban on bike rallies 72 hours before voting in poll-bound Assam, along with three other states and a Union Territory (UT) where elections are scheduled in the coming weeks.
The Commission, in a letter to the chief electoral officers of the poll-bound states/UT, stated that “it has been brought to its notice that in some places, bikes were being used by some antisocial elements to intimidate the voters before the poll day and/or on poll day.”
The Commission therefore decided that “bike rallies shall not be allowed at any place 72 hours before the date of poll or on the poll day in all the poll-going constituencies.
“This is in supersession of all instructions issued from time to time related to the matter,” the letter to the CEOs, stated.
Apart from the three-phase polls in Assam from March 27, three other states, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, besides a Union Territory, Puducherry, also go to the polls in the coming weeks.