BJP wants Haryana polls to be postponed; Congress & AAP cry foul

BJP has requested the Election Commission to defer the Haryana assembly elections by a few days due to holidays before and after the poll date (October 1).

In a letter to the poll panel, BJP's Haryana chief Mohan Lal Badoli pointed out that by taking a day's leave on September 30, people will have six holidays before and after the polling date.

September 28 and 29 fall on a weekend, and the polling date on October 1 is followed by Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday the very next day. Additionally, October 3 is observed as a holiday in the state for Agrasen Jayanti.

"Due to this long weekend, there is a strong possibility that several families might go on a vacation and give voting a miss," Badoli said.

He added 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, adding that this also may hinder the voting numbers.

"Therefore, it would be appropriate that the date fixed for voting for the Haryana assembly election be changed. 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.

The party also cited previous instances when EC changed the poll dates in states due to similar reasons. It said that during Punjab’s assembly elections, the election date was altered due to Ravidas Jayanti.

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has also supported the demand, saying the the polling date should be postponed by one or two weeks.

However, the request came under attack from rival Congress and AAP, who claimed that the BJP is afraid because it senses defeat in the poll-bound state.

"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," Bhupinder Hooda, leader of the opposition and former chief minister of Haryana, said.

He said that elections should be held as per the date fixed by the EC. "People of Haryana don't want to see the BJP government in power even for a day," he said.

Bhupinder Hooda's son and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda said: "It shows how scared the BJP is of the elections".

"The BJP is staring at defeat and is therefore coming up with such childish arguments. It has no issues, work or achievements to show to the people and no candidates to distribute the tickets. This is why the BJP is conspiring to postpone the elections by giving an excuse for holidays," Deepender Hooda said in Hindi on X.

The AAP's Haryana unit said that even before the elections took place, the ruling BJP had started looking for excuses as it could sense its impending defeat in the election.

According to India Today, sources said that the EC is reviewing the request made by BJP. In case they are approved, the date of voting could be shifted to October 7 or 8.

The tenure of the current Haryana assembly is scheduled to end on November 3.

The BJP faced a political crisis in Haryana earlier this year after its ally JJP walked out of the NDA.

After JJP's exit, Manohar Lal Khattar resigned as the chief minister and was replaced by Nayab Singh Saini. Saini managed to hold on to power after winning the floor test in the assembly. However, the BJP government is teetering on the edge in Haryana.

The Saini government has taken a flurry decisions in the run up to the polls to quell some of the resentment against the BJP among the farmers and youth.