Page 177 - Leap of Faith inside pages with cover (1)

Chapter 7

Elections during

a Pandemic

s the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread its
ominous wings far and wide in 2020, normal life
A came to a grinding halt unlike ever before in living
memory. All fes vals whether religious, cultural or literary
that involved mass gathering were cancelled by the
authori es to stop the spread of infec on. Democra c
processes ranging from elec ons to Parliamentary
delibera ons were adversely impacted. No wonder several
democracies across the world had to postpone the conduct
of their elec ons.
While pandemics such as the “Asian Influenza” (1957),
the “Hong Kong Flu” (1968) had impacted India, the
natural rhythm of life was not seriously disrupted. They
did not cast their shadow on the poli cal processes of the
country. The same is true about more recent outbreaks
like SARS in 2002-04, H1N1 (Swine Flu) in 2009, MERS-CoV
in 2012. In this sense the spread of COVID-19 in early 2020
has been an event of unprecedented magnitude. The
pandemic profoundly affected people's normal way of life
with serious consequences for the economic, educa onal
and cultural sectors. People have had to adapt to the
“new normal” in social and professional interac ons. The coverage of EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) was 100 percent in case of Bihar

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