Jalandhar : Other than the political leaders, most city residents are heaving a sigh of relief after the Election Commission’s announcement of putting restrictions on the conduct of rallies and road shows till January 15. As two days have passed since the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct, complete silence prevails except for small indoor meetings being organised by the party leaders.

‘Medical fraternity wants Jan 15 curb to be extended’

Dr Sushma Chawla, gynaecologist and social activist

The decision of the EC to not allow rallies is really appreciable not just from the point of the view of Omicron spread but also otherwise. The city residents have already seen a lot of chaos owing to the rallies held last month. No rallies this week meant no traffic snarls. There also will be no wasteful expenditure on fuel. The city will be cleaner due to no post-rally mess. The police officials too must be feeling relieved of this extra duty. Ideally, this form of campaigning should become a regular feature even when there is no Covid. All voters, be it young or the old, are so much into social media that the leaders need not worry over no rallies being organised. They can easily form an opinion even while sitting at home and watching the activities of party leaders on the social media.

Raghav Chauhan, NGO Mission Clean Jalandhar

‘No dhol by Punjabi diaspora too’

We realise that the Punjab Assembly poll 2022 will be different this time by more than one way. The dhols and road shows will be missing after the EC orders, and hence the wasteful expenditure too. But there is one thing more that will be missing — the active participation of the NRIs. They are disappointed. They have realised that their efforts to usher in change in their motherland will not bear any fruit. There was a time when overseas supporters of the SAD and Congress would arrive in Punjab one or two months prior to the elections and host parties with the objective to persuade their near and dear ones to vote for their party. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the NRIs had descended on Punjab in droves, mainly to canvas for the Aam Aadmi Party. This trend will not be seen this time. I urge the people of Punjab not to fight with each other for the sake of their political leaders but vote for the right and good candidate irrespective of any political party.

Satnam Singh Chahal, Executive Director, North American Punjabi Association

Only door-to-door campaign style and putting few posts of social media cannot build a political atmosphere. The EC must allow us small meetings limiting the size of the gathering or else the entire campaign will get washed out. We hope that some curbs will be lifted after January 15. The EC must allow small gatherings with Covid protocol in place. The candidates will ensure that everyone comes wearing masks and there is proper spacing between the chairs. Without this kind of a smaller scale election campaign, the candidates will feel really helpless in reaching out to more people and getting face to face with them.

Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema, SAD Spokesperson

‘Rallies or no rallies – industry wants only peace’

Whether there will be rallies or no rallies, it does not matter much to the local industrialists. All they want is peace in Punjab. Any turmoil or social and political disturbance affects our business and orders from other states and abroad. We do not want any dharnas, but simply good governance. The only direct advantage that we have if there are no rallies is that our labourers do not ask for leaves to attend political functions. No genuine trader or industrialist attends a rally. We keep a tab on the promises and activities of political leaders through news and social media and go with the one who seems to be more realistic and trustworthy.