Gurugram: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked the Election Commission to postpone the date for the Haryana assembly elections, currently scheduled for 1 October. This request has stirred controversy, with the Congress accusing the BJP of trying to delay the elections, with voters ready to oust the current government.
Contacted by ThePrint Saturday, State BJP President Mohan Lal Badoli confirmed that the BJP had requested the postponement Friday citing several holidays before and after 1 October which may result in low voter turnout.
“I wrote a letter to the Election Commission Friday requesting to delay the polling by a few days in the interest of better turnout because 1 October is Tuesday. Being the voting day, it is observed as a holiday. Saturday and Sunday are off days, and 2 and 3 October are holidays because of Gandhi Jayanti and Agrasen Jayanti. Anyone who takes leave Monday (30 September), will get a long holiday of six days. This is likely to impact the voting percentage badly,” said Badoli, adding that many people go on outings if they have five to six days off in a row.
Badoli said that the final call was to be taken by the Election Commission, but the party was fine with 8 October as polling date.
Meanwhile, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Legislative Assembly, has stated that the Congress is fine with the original date.
A source in the BJP told ThePrint that the reason for seeking change of date is a feeling in the ruling party that the fall in vote percentage will damage BJP’s poll prospects.
“This happened with the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls held in May this year when the party got 46.11 percent vote share and lost five seats with a total polling of 65 percent. In contrast, when the polling was 70.34 percent in 2019, the party got 58.2 percent vote share and 10 seats,” said the BJP leader.
The BJP leader said that besides the gazetted holidays and weekly offs close to 1 October, an annual function of the Bishnoi community on 2 October, when members of the community visit Rajasthan, is also a cause of concern for the BJP.
Dura Ram Bishnoi, the BJP MLA from Fatehabad, confirmed that the annual Mela (fair) is held on the Amavasya of Falgun month as per the Hindu calendar at Muktidham Mukam in Bikaner district of Rajasthan every year and thousands of Bishnois take part in it.
Members of the Bishnoi community are in sizeable numbers in several assembly constituencies in Haryana, largely in Adampur, Fatehabad, Nalwa, Ratia, Tohana, and Dabwali.
Hooda has alleged that the BJP is finding excuses to delay the polls.
“The Congress has no problem with going ahead with the polls on the pre-announced dates. The Election Commission has announced the complete schedule and the political parties have started their process accordingly. People want this government to go and they would not lose this opportunity to cast their votes to oust the BJP,” Hooda said to ThePrint
Sources in the Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, confirmed having received Badoli’s request and said that the CEO will refer this to the ECI for the final call.
The ECI had on 16 July announced the election schedule for Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir
As per the schedule, the notification for the election is to be made on 5 September. The last date of nominations is to be 12 September. The scrutiny of nominations is on 13 September and withdrawals on 16 September. The polling in Haryana is to be held on 1 October and the results are to be announced on 4 October.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhari)
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