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There is nothing more heart-warming to see an active watchdog, especially in an hour of crisis. The Election Commission of India, the much-criticised watchdog of the great Indian electoral theatre, has finally lived up to that role when it decided on April 16 to ban campaign-related political activities — rallies, public meetings, street plays, street corner meetings — in Bengal, that is right in the middle of a high-stake electoral battle, between 7 pm and 10 am. It also extended the no-campaign period from 48 to 72 hours before the polls for the remaining three phases.

The decision was taken two days after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) announced that it was voluntarily cancelling all rallies and roadshows in all the remaining four phases of the elections to help curb the galloping infection. The leaders also urged its alliance partners Congress and Indian Secular Front to follow suit.

The poll panel’s decision is welcome. Though West Bengal is not yet hit by the second wave of the virus as badly as Maharashtra or Delhi, the numbers are rising fast in the state. If the public gatherings, where distancing protocols are flagrantly violated, carried on, it would have certainly stoked the infection unchecked. That the watchdog presided over the deterioration, even after a political party put society above electoral interest, would have added insult to injury.

That the EC’s decision was appropriate cannot be doubted. But was it timely? Perhaps not, since it should have read the situation earlier when the graph began its steep climb up. Are the restrictions sufficient? Perhaps not, since the virus spreads as much during daytime as during night. Restrictions on public gathering only between 7 pm and 10 am might not make much sense. In that case, the poll panel could be blamed for tokenism.