he world now stares at the third wave of Covid-19, ‘Omicron’, pandemic-, with health experts warning not to be lulled into complacency by the ‘relative mildness’ of the new virus strain-.

For the Election Commission of India (ECI), nonetheless, the watchword is ‘caution’, not ‘panic’. It has announced the polls to five State Assemblies in seven phases from February 10, 2022 to March 7, 2022, in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa that the ‘election fever’ may outpace ‘Omicron’ in its intensity. ...