PremiumWith the speculations regarding Election Commission of India (ECI) might consider clubbing remaining Assembly election phases in West Bengal into one, the ECI on Thursday made it clear that there are no such plans, news agency ANI reported.
Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Office in West Bengal today has called for an all-party meeting asking all political parties to adhere to COVID19 guidelines mandated by the ECI.
Premium The state, which is in the middle of elections, recorded its highest-ever single-day spike of 5,892 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking the tally to 6,30,116, the state health department bulletin said. The death toll rose to 10,458 after 24 more fatalities were registered from different parts of the state, it added. With yesterday's count, the number of active cases rose to 32,621.
In the last 24 hours, 2,297 COVID patients recovered in the state, it said. The discharge rate has slightly dipped to 93.16 per cent. Since Tuesday, 43,463 samples have been tested in the state, taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 96,32,841, the bulletin said.
Increase in coronavirus infections is a cause of worry for the state due to the ongoing elections. Four rounds of voting are over and the speculations were rife that the rest as many would be clubbed into a single phase. Results will come on May 2 along with other states where voting is over.
The high-decibel campaigning for the fifth phase of the ongoing West Bengal Assembly elections concluded at 6 pm on Wednesday, as leaders of the political parties taking part in the high-stakes polls left no stone unturned to woo the voters of the state.
The campaigning ended early today as the Election Commission (EC) on Saturday said the silence period for the fifth phase shall be extended to 72 hours.
(With inputs from agencies)
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