Now, BJP Wants Punjab Polls To Be Postponed

Chandigarh: BJP and Congress may be preparing for a bitter assembly election, but they are on the same page as far postponement of poll date is concerned.

The Punjab BJP on Sunday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra urging him to postpone assembly election in Punjab on account of Guru Ravidas Jayanti.

According to the poll schedule of five states announced on January 8 by Election Commission of India (ECI), election in Punjab is to be held in a single phase on February 14. The parties have realized, albeit a bit belatedly, that Guru Ravidas Jayanti falls on February 16 this year, when the 645th birth anniversary of saint Guru Ravidas will be observed.

On Saturday, Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi wrote to the Election Commission requesting Punjab polls to be postponed by at least six days so that devotees who will be travelling to Varanasi for Guru Ravidas Jayanti have enough time to return and cast their votes.

The issue was brought to the CM’s notice by representatives of scheduled caste community.

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Prakash has also urged the CEC to reschedule Punjab elections to a date after February 18.

Punjab apart, the other states which will go to polls in February-March are UP (7 phases), Manipur (2 phases), Uttarakhand and Goa. Results for all states will be declared on March 10.