New Delhi: A judge of the Allahabad high court on Thursday, December 23 brought up the matter of the rising number of cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider taking steps to curb a potential third wave of infections, the Indian Express reported.While granting bail to one Sanjay Yadav in an unrelated criminal case, Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav concluded his order by mentioning that assembly elections are around the corner in some states (Uttar Pradesh in particular, where Vidhan Sabha elections are slated for February next year) and that parties were holding rallies and meetings contributing to the gathering of large crowds.“It is not possible to observe COVID protocols in these programmes. If this is not stopped in time, then the result will be more frightening than the second wave,” Justice Yadav said.Additionally, the judge asked the Election Commission (EC) to direct parties to campaign through public broadcaster Doordarshan as well as through print media instead of holding physical rallies and campaigns, the Hindustan Times reported.Justice Yadav also suggested that, if possible, the February elections be postponed because “only if life continues can election rallies and meetings take place.”The judge concluded by saying “…jaan hai to jahan hai (health is wealth)”, a slogan which had been adopted by the Modi administration during the nation’s fight against COVID-19.India has thus far recorded 236 omicron variant cases from at least seven states with metros Delhi and Maharashtra together accounting for 129 cases, over half of the national total.On Thursday evening, the Prime Minister had attended a review meeting in New Delhi on the country’s COVID preparedness, hours after he attended a large campaign rally in Varanasi.Also read: PM’s Review Meet On Omicron Focuses On Vaccination, Genome-SequencingAt the two-plus hour meeting, attended by top officials of numerous official health bodies such as the Union health ministry, the health department, the departments of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and the like, the Prime Minister asked officials to ensure the public health systems of various states were in place, stressed upon ensuring vaccine rates in these states and asked officials to make sure that an adequate number of positive samples were sent for genome sequencing to allow authorities to better understand the new variant.Earlier, in light of rising omicron cases, health secretary Rajesh Bhushan had asked states to activate ‘war rooms’/Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) to surveil the situation and spot trends in infections and transmission. He also suggested that states enforce curbs and restrictions such as night curfews and limited capacity at workplaces and public transport, should there be a further surge in cases.(With PTI inputs)