‘Defer Haryana Assembly polls, holidays could hurt voter turnout,’ BJP asks Election Commission
The Hindutva party was anticipating defeat and making ‘childish arguments’ ahead of polling on October 1, Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda said.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday asked the Election Commission to defer the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections saying that a spate of holidays around the polling dates could lead to a low voter turnout.
Elections to the 90-seat House are scheduled for October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 4.
In a letter to the poll panel, BJP’s Haryana unit president Mohan Lal Badoli asked that the elections be postponed in the interest of a better voter turnout.
Badoli pointed out that October 1 falls on a Tuesday and that October 2 and 3 are holidays because of Gandhi Jayanti and Agrasen Jayanti. He said people may take a holiday from work on September 30, a Monday, to enjoy six consecutive days off starting September 28, a Saturday. This would likely hurt the voter turnout.
The Congress dismissed the request claiming that the Hindutva party was nervous ahead of the election. Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda said the BJP was anticipating defeat and making “childish arguments” to avoid facing the electorate.
“The BJP has no issue, no work or achievement to tell the voters and no 90 candidates to give tickets to,” he said. “That is why BJP is conspiring to postpone the elections by making an excuse for...
