“We welcome the decision of the EC”: BJP co-election in-charge Biplab Deb on date change for Haryana polls

New Delhi [India], August 31 (ANI): Following the change in dates for the Haryana assembly polls by the Election Commission of India on Saturday, BJP co-election in-charge of the Haryana Assembly Biplab Deb said that the party welcomes the decision of the EC as this decision will help in getting the maximum voter turnout on polling day.

Speaking to ANI, Biplab Deb said that the party had written a letter to the Election Commission, requesting to change the date of the election, after which other parties had also written letters to the EC to change the date of the Haryana assembly elections from October 1 to October 5.

Deb stated that the EC changed the dates for the polls for maximum voter turnouts as there are festivals on October 1 and people might travel to their homes to celebrate.

“Our country is a country of culture and festivals. There were festivals on October 1 and the number of Bishnoi community members is high in Haryana and naturally the Election Commission wants maximum voting to take place. During the festival, lakhs of people will go to their homes to celebrate the festival, so the Election Commission has changed the date so that maximum voting takes place in the Haryana Assembly. We welcome the decision of the Election Commission,” he said.

The former Tripura CM denied the opposition’s charge that the change had been done to benifit the BJP, “I do not know whether the BJP will benefit in the elections or not. But I want to say that in a democratic country, there should be maximum votes. Voting is the identity of a citizen and we are in favour of it. When I contested the Lok Sabha elections, my constituency had the highest voter turnout. There was about 83 per cent voting and during that election, I had only one appeal, to vote as much as possible. In a democratic country, an election is a festival of democracy. Celebrate the festival during elections, but do not make it a holiday.”

“God knows who will win the Haryana Assembly and the public will tell but we have worked under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We have a government at the centre and in the state. The BJP has given employment to people in Haryana and the public is Janardan. It will decide who will win the Haryana Assembly but the leadership is with us,” he further added.

Earlier today, the ECI revised the polling day for Haryana Assembly polls from October 1 to October 5, this year, as well as moved the counting of votes for both Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana Assemblies from October 4 to October 8.