Haryana Election: As BJP Seeks Poll Delay Due To Weekend Overlap, Congress & AAP See ‘Fear Of Defeat’

The BJP in Haryana has requested the Election Commission to postpone the upcoming assembly elections due to overlapping holidays, citing concerns about low voter turnout.

The Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has requested the Election Commission (EC) to consider postponing the upcoming assembly elections scheduled for October 1, citing concerns over potential low voter turnout due to overlapping holidays. This move has sparked criticism from opposition parties, who claim that the BJP is acting out of fear of losing. 

The state unit chief of BJP, Mohan Lal Badoli, formally submitted the request to the EC. The Chief Electoral Officer of Haryana, Pankaj Agarwal, confirmed that the commission received the letter on Friday over email. "We have received the communication from state BJP and forwarded it to the Election Commission," Agarwal told news agency PTI.

A member of the BJP's state election management committee, Varinder Garg, said, "We have reasoned that the Assembly election date of October 1 (Tuesday) is preceded by a weekend and followed by more holidays which might hit the voting percentage as people tend to go on vacation on long weekends."

Garg confirmed that September 28-29 are Saturday and Sunday while October 1 is a poll holiday. Later, the Gandhi Jayanti comes on October 2, and Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti on October 3. "We have written to the Election Commission in this regard. For a better turnout, any new date once the string of holidays is over should be fine," Garg said, PTI reported.

Employees who take a day off on September 30 will receive six holidays. In his letter to the EC, Badoli stated that there is a good chance that some families may take a holiday and skip voting because of the long weekend. He continued, "If that occurs, the voting percentage would drop significantly."

Additionally, Badoli stated that on October 2, "Asoj Amavasya," a number of Bishnoi community members from Haryana will go to Nokha tehsil in Bikaner, Rajasthan, to take part in an annual fair celebrated on this day. This could also affect the voting percentage, he further said.

Badoli mentioned that it has been the continuous effort of the EC to ensure that the maximum number of people exercise vote. Therefore, it would be better if the date fixed for voting for the Haryana Assembly election could be postponed. While determining a new date for the election, it should be ensured that there is no holiday before or after the date, he wrote.

He wrote, "We think that more and more voters will be able to participate in the election if the EC does this." He also stated that the date of the election had been changed previously by the EC citing that the date declared for voting in Punjab Assembly elections -- February 14, 2022 -- was changed to February 20, 2022, due to Sant Ravidas Jayanti on February 16.

In 2022, then Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, alongside the BJP, its allies, and the BSP, requested the Election Commission to postpone the voting date as millions of Guru Ravidas followers travel to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh for celebrations.

Haryana Elections 2024: Congress, AAP Criticise BJP's Request

On the other hand, senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda criticised the current stance of the BJP, suggesting it reflects their acceptance of defeat. He noted that it has been over a week since the Election Commission announced the election date, and the BJP's call for a delay is a sign that they have already conceded.

Hooda, who serves as the Leader of the Opposition and is a former CM of Haryana, asserted that the polls should proceed as scheduled, as the people of Haryana are eager to see the BJP government out of power.

Bhupinder Hooda's son, Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda, also responded to the letter of Badol, arguing that the BJP's behaviour shows their fear of the upcoming elections. He claimed that the party lacks any substantial achievements, issues, or viable candidates, which is why they are trying to use the holidays as an excuse to delay the elections. "The voters of Haryana are aware and will not be swayed by such tactics. They will turn out in large numbers to vote out the BJP," he added, as per PTI.

The AAP's Haryana unit echoed similar sentiments, criticising the BJP for allegedly looking for excuses even before the elections occurred. In a post on X, the AAP stated that if the BJP had genuinely served the state, they would not be seeking a postponement. The party concluded that the BJP's defeat is inevitable this time.

Meanwhile, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala also suggested that the election date should be postponed by one or two weeks, arguing that long weekends typically result in lower voter turnout, potentially decreasing participation by 15 to 20 per cent.