New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has urged the Election Commission of India to postpone the upcoming Haryana assembly polls slated for October 1. The BJP has cited holidays before and after the election date, asserting that it could lead to low voter turnout. However, the opposition including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party claimed that the ruling party has sought deferment of polls as it could sense defeat.
A letter has been sent by the party's state unit chief Mohan Lal Badoli to the poll panel. Haryana's Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal confirmed that the commission received a copy of the communication on Friday over email. "We have received the communication from state BJP and forwarded it to the Election Commission," Agarwal told PTI.
Mohan Lal Badoli said that on 'Asoj Amavasya' on October 2, several members of the Bishnoi community of Haryana will leave for Nokha tehsil of Bikaner in Rajasthan to participate in an annual fair held on the occasion, asserting that it could affect the voting percentage
It would be appropriate that the date fixed for voting for the Haryana Assembly election be changed, said that state BJP chief, adding that while determining a fresh date for the election, it should be made certain that there is no holiday the previous or the following day, he wrote.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Bhupinder Singh Hooda attacked the ruling BJP over its appeal to postpone polls. He said that BJP's stand shows that it has already accepted defeat. It has been more than a week since the Election Commission announced the poll date, the BJP wants the polls to be deferred as it has accepted defeat, said Bhupinder Hooda. He asserted that the polls must be conducted on the dates fixed by the Election Commission.
The AAP's Haryana unit said even before the elections took place, the ruling BJP had started looking for excuses as it could sense its impending defeat in the election. In a post on X, the AAP said if the BJP had done work in the state, it would not have been seeking postponement of polls. This time the BJP's defeat is certain, it said.
Meanwhile, Indian National Lok Dal's (INLD) Abhay Chautala said the polling date should be postponed by one or two weeks. Since people usually go on holidays on long weekends, it will adversely affect the voting percentage which is likely to decrease by 15 to 20 per cent, Chautala said.
The EC on August 16 announced that assembly polls in Haryana would be held in a single phase on October 1 and the results would be declared on October 4. The BJP is eyeing a third consecutive term while the Congress is looking to wrest power from the ruling party after it made substantial gains in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
(With PTI Inputs)