Assembly elections: Haryana polls postponed to October 5, counting day for J&K, Haryana changed to October 8

Election Commission of India rescheduled Haryana Assembly Election date to 5 October. The poll panel cited ‘centuries-old festival of Bishnoi community’ for the move. Earlier in August, Haryana BJP had written to the poll body flagging holidays around 1 October, and a fear that this would affect the voter turnout. They had said, people tend to go on vacation in the week before and after October 1 and could impact the voter percentage. 

The Election Commission also revised the dates of counting votes in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana assembly polls to October 8 in place of October 4.

The EC had received a representation from the national president of All India Bishnoi Mahasabha, Bikaner, Rajasthan for rescheduling the date for the Haryana assembly elections.

This year, the Guru Jambheshwar remembrance festival falls on October 2 and thousands of Bishnoi families residing in Sirsa, Fatehabad and Hisar will be travelling to Rajasthan on the day, denying them their voting rights.

“The decision has been taken to honour both the voting rights and the traditions of the Bishnoi community, which has upheld a centuries-old practice of participating in the Asoj Amavasya festival celebration in remembrance of their Guru Jambheshwar”, said ECI.

On August 24, Haryana BJP had said that the Assembly election date of October 1 is preceded by holiday on weekend and followed by some holidays which may hit the voting percentage ‘as people tend to go on vacation on long weekends which are followed by holidays.’

"Saturday (September 28) is a holiday for many, while Sunday is a holiday. October 1 is a poll holiday in the state which is followed by Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, which is a holiday and October 3 is also a holiday on account of Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti," BJP had said.

Assembly poll dates changed. How politicians reacted?

Haryana BJP leader Anil Vij welcomed the decision and said, "We intended that on the earlier (election) dates, people would have got 5 holidays and there would have been chances people go for holidays or urgent work and this could have led to a decrease in the vote percentage...Congress keep saying things without any reason". 

Meanwhile, former Haryana CM and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “It is the Election Commission's right, they have extended the date. They (BJP) have already accepted defeat in Haryana. When the Haryana government wrote a letter to the Election Commission, I had said at that time that the BJP had accepted defeat”.