After Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), now Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has approached the Election Commission seeking a postponement of the Assembly polls, scheduled to be held on October 1, to another date citing holidays before and after October 1. In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, INLD Secretary General Abhay Singh Chautala said there is potential for low voter turnout due to gazetted holidays a day before and after October 1.
The process of Assembly election in Haryana is set to start on September 5, 2024, with polling scheduled on October 1, 2024, and counting of votes to be held on October 4.
Noting that the Assembly election date of October 1 is preceded by a holiday on the weekend and followed by two gazetted holidays on account of Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 and Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti on October 3, Chautala said this may hit the voting percentage as people tend to go on vacation on long weekends which are followed by holidays.
"The vote percentage will be adversely affected and the polling percentage is likely to decrease by 15 to 20 percent. Apart from this, the preparation for the election as well as the training of election staff will also be adversely affected," he said.
To ensure maximum participation of voters in Haryana and to maximize the voting percentage, Abhay Singh Chautala requested that the date/day of voting be extended by one or two weeks.
Earlier, the Haryana BJP had also written to the Election Commission, seeking a postponement of the Assembly polls to another date on similar grounds. Asking the poll body to fix a new date, Haryana BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli, in his letter to the Election Commission, said people tend to go on vacation in the week before and after October 1 which could impact the voter percentage.
The BJP's request, however, drew a jibe from the Congress, with former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda claiming that the saffron party accepted defeat.