The Election Commission on Saturday announced that the assembly elections in Haryana will be held on October 5 instead of October 1. Along with Haryana, the counting of votes in Jammu and Kashmir will now be held on October 8 instead of October 4. Both INLD and BJP were demanding a change in the date of elections in Haryana.
In a statement issued by the Election Commission, it has been said that this change in the election date has been made respecting the voting rights of the citizens and the traditions of the Bishnoi community. In Haryana, there is a centuries-old tradition of participating in the Asoj Amavasya festival in honor of Guru Jambheshwar.
Why was the election date changed?
In a statement issued by the Election Commission, it was said that the National President of All India Bishnoi Mahasabha, Bikaner (Rajasthan) had requested to reschedule the date of polling for the Haryana Assembly elections to October 1, 2024.
This request was due to a long standing tradition followed by many families from Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana who visit their native village Mukam in Rajasthan during the new moon day of Asoj month to participate in the annual festival held in Bikaner district in honour of their Guru Jambheshwar. They have been following this tradition for the last 300 years.
what is asoj festival
The ‘Asoj’ festival is on October 2 and thousands of Bishnoi families from Sirsa, Fatehabad and Hisar will travel to Rajasthan on polling day, which will affect their ability to vote. The Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had also requested the Election Commission to postpone the polling date for the assembly elections.
The source said the Election Commission had scheduled the elections keeping in mind the gazetted and restricted holidays in the state. After receiving representations, the Election Commission had sought a report from the state’s chief electoral officer, which he submitted on Saturday, a source said. The CEO had consulted deputy commissioners of three districts, which have a large number of Bishnoi community, the source said.
Long leave became the reason for change
The change in the polling date has also come after concerns of six days holiday, BJP and INLD had demanded to change the polling date of October 1. They said that October 1 is clashing with public holidays, weekends and religious festivals. In such a situation, people can go out taking advantage of six holidays together. This can lead to a decline in the percentage of voting.
His argument was that 28 September is Saturday, 29 September is Sunday, voting is on 1 October Tuesday, 2 October is Gandhi Jayanti holiday and 3 October is Agrasen Jayanti holiday, so if leave is taken only on 30 September, there will be a long holiday of six days. Due to this, people could go out and the percentage of voting could be less. The Election Commission is not in favor of voting on weekends.
The date of the election has been changed earlier also
The Election Commission has a history of adjusting election dates to respect the sentiments of the community. In the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, voting was postponed by a week to allow devotees to travel to Varanasi for Guru Ravidas Jayanti.
During the 2022 Manipur Assembly elections, the polling dates were changed to respect the Sunday prayers of the Christian community.
In the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly elections, the commission rescheduled the polling date which initially coincided with Devuthani Ekadashi, an important day for mass marriages.
