Hummingbird News Desk
NEWD DELHI, 22 MARCH: Bike rallies have been banned by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for up to 72 hours before polling in an area. Announcing this in a letter to all the state election commission offices in poll-bound states on Monday, the Election Commission said that bike rallies could be misused.
It has been brought to the notice of the Commission that in some places bikes are used by some antisocial elements to intimidate the voters before the poll day and on poll day.
The Commission has considered the above issue and has decided that Bike Rallies shallnot be allowed at any place 72 hours before date of polland on the Poll day in all poll going constituencies.
Assembly elections are due to begin in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala from 27 March. The results for all the states will be announced on 2 May.
In the last few weeks, both the Trinamul Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have held bike rallies in Bengal. Bike rallies have often been followed up with complaints from the rival side about the number of participating vehicles surpassing the prescribed limit.