Election Commission meet today to discuss Punjab parties' demand to postpone Feb 14 assembly polls

Amid requests by Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and several political parties to postpone the February 14 assembly polls in the state, the Election Committee will hold a meeting on Monday morning to discuss the demands.

The political parties and leaders have requested to defer the assembly polls in view of Guru Ravidas Jayanti.

The request for postponement of Punjab Assembly polls was put forth to the poll panel by several parties including Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) and former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh's party Punjab Lok Congress.

The request was made as many people from the Scheduled Caste community from State are likely to visit Varanasi, in view of Guru Ravidas birth anniversary on February 16, said sources.

Earlier on Saturday, Punjab CM Channi has urged the EC to postpone the February 14 assembly polls by six days in view of Guru Ravidas Jayanti.

In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, Channi wrote that it was brought to his notice by some representatives of the Scheduled Castes community, which contributes around 32 per cent of the state's population, that the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas falls on February 16. 

On this occasion, a large number of SC devotees (about 20 lakh) from the state are likely to visit Banaras in Uttar Pradesh from February 10 to 16, Channi wrote.

In such a situation, many people from this community would not be able to cast their votes for the state assembly, which is otherwise their constitutional right, he stated in the letter written on January 13.

They have requested that the voting date may be extended in such a way that they are able to visit Banaras from February 10 to February 16 as also participate in the assembly elections, he said. Channi said, "It is considered fair and appropriate that the voting for Punjab assembly elections 2022, maybe postponed for at least six days, enabling about 20 lakh people to utilise their right to vote for the state legislative assembly."

Earlier, Bahujan Samaj Party's Punjab chief Jasvir Singh Garhi had also demanded from the ECI to reschedule polls from February 14 to February 20. Voting for Punjab's 117 assembly seats will be held on February 14 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.