Hardeep Singh Puri Thanks Election Commission For Deferring Punjab Elections To Feb 20

Jan 17,2022

The decision to postpone Punjab elections was taken in a meeting of the Election Commission held earlier today, to deliberate on the request of the parties. 

Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday expressed his gratitude to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for considering the demand made by the BJP to defer the date of the Punjab Assembly Elections. Taking to the microblogging site Twitter, Puri outlined how the date of election which was scheduled to take place on February 14, has now been postponed to February 20 and further said that it would enable the 'unhindered celebrations' of Sri Guru Ravidas Ji Jayanti.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, the BJP had underlined that Gurupurab of Guru Ravi Dass Ji falls on February 16 this year, two days after February 14- the scheduled election. 
"The State of Punjab has a substantial population of followers of Guru Ravi Das Ji including the Scheduled Caste community which is about 32 per cent of the population of Punjab. On this pious occasion, millions of their devotees would visit Banaras in Uttar Pradesh to celebrate the Gurupurb. So it would not be possible for them to participate in the voting process," the party had said, requesting for a postponement. 
Besides, the BJP, the Congress and the Punjab Lok Congress had also put for the EC the plea to postpone the election.
Heartfelt gratitude to the Election Commission for considering the demand made by @BJP4India to defer the date of Punjab Election to 20 February to enable unhindered celebrations of Sri Guru Ravidas Ji Jayanti.@BJP4Punjab pic.twitter.com/u37ITHPTCn
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 17, 2022

EC postpones polls in Punjab
Considering the request of the parties, the ECI deferred the date of polling in Punjab by six days. The Assembly elections in the northern state which were to be held on February 14, will now be held on February 20. Accordingly, the date of notification has been changed to January 25, the last date of nomination to February 1, the date of scrutiny to February 2 and the date of withdrawal to February 4. The date of counting remains the same, i.e., March 10. 
The order from the EC states that the decision has been taken in light of the Guru Ravidas Jayanti celebrations, which will witness the mobility of a large number of devotees to Varanasi on February 16. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Election Commission held earlier today, to deliberate on the request of the aforesaid parties.