North Goa administration announces ban on rallies till Jan 31

In a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the state, the North Goa district administration on January 28, 2022, announced the ban on all physical rallies, padayatra and roadshows until January 31. However, door to door visits would be allowed with restrictions.

The New order

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The passed executive order would also restrict the movement of the party workers and campaigners in a group or a cluster. No roadshow or any kind of rally would be allowed, owing to the recent hike in Covid-19 cases. However, door to door visits would be allowed with restrictions.

The order released by North Goa District Magistrate, Ajit Roy on Friday stated that "no physical rally of political parties and candidates (including probable or any other group related to the elections) shall be allowed till January 31. No roadshow, padayatra, cycle/bike/vehicle rally and procession shall be allowed till January 31".

The order allows Door-to-door campaigning for a maximum of 10 persons, which includes candidates (excluding security personnel), and political parties. As a mandatory measure, the candidates and party workers will be required to ensure the compliance of Covid appropriate behaviour. A similar order was issued by the South Goa district administration last week, that extended the ban on rallies and roadshows until January 31.

The move came after, Goa on January 28, registered a steep hike in Covid-related deaths with 20 persons with co-morbidity illness succumbing to death. A total of 1,322 new Covid cases were reported in Goa on Friday, taking the state's total active cases to 11,903.

-With inputs from IANS