Haryana assembly election date changed

New Delhi: The Election Commission has extended the date of voting in Haryana. Voting in the state will now be held on October 5 while the results will come out on October 8. Earlier, voting was to be held in the state on October 1, while the results were to be declared on October 4 along with the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Now the election results of both the states will come out on October 8. The BJP had written a letter to the Election Commission demanding extension of the voting date.

The Election Commission said that this decision has been taken to respect both the voting rights and traditions of the Bishnoi community, who have maintained the centuries-old practice of participating in the Asoj Amavasya festival celebrations in memory of their guru Jambheshwar.

The BJP had demanded to postpone the elections in view of the festival and holidays, which has now been accepted by the Election Commission. Regarding the postponement of the election, it was said that the date on October 1 was clashing with weekends, public holidays and festivals. September 28-29 is Saturday and Sunday. After this, there is also a holiday on Wednesday, October 2, so there is a possibility of people going out of the city.

The Election Commission had decided to hold simultaneous assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana on August 16. Elections will be held in three phases in Jammu and Kashmir, while in Haryana it was decided to hold elections in a single phase. After delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir, the number of assembly seats has become 90. Haryana also has 90 seats. Voting is on 18, 25 September and 1 October in Jammu and Kashmir. Voting was to be held in Haryana on 1 October as well. While the results of both the states were to come out together on 4 October.

Now that the Election Commission has extended the date of voting, it has also had to extend the date of counting. Therefore, now the results of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will come out on 8 October instead of 4 October. Assembly elections are going to be held in Jammu and Kashmir after about 10 years. This is the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 that assembly elections are going to be held in the Union Territory.