2024 Haryana Assembly Polls Rescheduled to Honor Bishnoi Community Tradition

The Election Commission of India has revised the Haryana Assembly polling date from October 1 to October 5 and moved the vote counting to October 8, 2024, to accommodate the Bishnoi community's Asoj Amavasya festival.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Saturday that it has revised the polling date for the Haryana Assembly elections, shifting it from October 1 to October 5 this year. The counting of votes for both Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana will also be moved from October 4 to October 8. The ECI stated that the decision honors both the voting rights and the traditions of the Bishnoi community, which celebrates Asoj Amavasya to remember their Guru Jambheshwar.

The ECI had previously received a representation from the National President of the All India Bishnoi Mahasabha in Bikaner, Rajasthan, requesting a rescheduling of the polls. The representation highlighted that for generations, numerous families in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana visit their native village Mukam in Rajasthan during the Asoj Amavas festival to honor their Guru Jambheshwar.

This year, the festival falls on October 2, and thousands of Bishnoi families residing in Sirsa, Fatehabad, and Hisar would be traveling to Rajasthan on the original poll day, thus potentially denying them their voting rights, according to the ECI. The Commission has a history of adjusting election dates to respect community sentiments, such as accommodating Guru Ravidas Jayanti in Punjab's 2022 elections and Sunday prayers for the Christian community in Manipur the same year.

Similarly, in the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly elections, the ECI rescheduled polling originally set for Devuthani Ekadashi, important for mass weddings. During the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections, the poll date was adjusted due to Barawafat. The revised polling date for Haryana would also avoid a six-day holiday stretch by requiring only a one-day leave on September 30, 2024, the ECI added.

(With inputs from agencies.)