The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday asked the Election Commission to briefly 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 could keep people away from the polls.
The Congress dismissed the request claiming that the Hindutva party was nervous. 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 holidays.”