The Election Commission on Tuesday asked authorities in poll-bound Gujarat to ensure that people residing in areas that fall in the path of Cyclone Ockhi are able to vote in the upcoming Assembly elections. The polling for 182 Assembly seats will be held on December 9 and December 14 in the state.

The Election Commission asked the chief electoral officer of Gujarat to make “effective arrangements for immediate relief and rehabilitation, adequate, effective and fool-proof arrangements may also be made”.

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Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and other top officials are monitoring the situation from Surat as the cyclone is likely to make a landfall on Tuesday midnight in South Gujarat region.

As a result of rain and bad weather in several parts of the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress had to cancel several campaign meetings of senior party leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally scheduled for Wednesday in Surat also had to be cancelled, The Hindu reported. BJP

President Amit Shah on Tuesday cancelled his rallies in Rajula town in Amreli and in the towns of Mahuva and Shihor in Bhavnagar district, reported PTI. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in the town of Anjar in Kutch but cancelled election meetings in Morbi, Dhrangadhra and Surendranagar.

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Earlier on Tuesday, Modi said he was “continuously monitoring the situation” and asked Bharatiya Janata Party workers in Gujarat to help people. “Our Karyakartas should devote themselves to providing all possible assistance and stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow citizens,” Modi said.

“It [Cyclone Ockhi] is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards, weaken gradually and cross south Gujarat and adjoining Maharashtra coasts near Surat as a deep depression by the night of December 5,” India Meteorological Department said in the latest bulletin.