Bishnois in 3 districts, behind EC pushing Haryana poll dates, a ‘300-yr-old festival’

EC sources said the decision was taken following a representation from the Bishnoi community that electors were expected to travel to attend the 300-year-old Asoj Amavasya festival in Bikaner. Sources said this would involve voters from three Haryana districts – Sirsa, Fatehabad and Hisar. The representation was received a little over a week ago.

The EC sought a report from the state Chief Electoral Officer, who consulted the deputy commissioners of the three districts with a sizeable Bishnoi community, said a source. The CEO submitted the report on Saturday.

Soon after the elections were announced, Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli had written to the EC on August 22 seeking its postponement, arguing that there were holidays – including Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 – before and after the poll date, which would give residents five holidays in a row. This would impact the turnout as people may travel out of the state, he had said.

“Due to this long weekend, there is a strong possibility that several families might go on a vacation and give voting a miss. If it happens, the voting percentage would reduce drastically,” Badoli said in his letter to the EC. Badoli also said that on Asoj Amavasya, several members of the Bishnoi community in Haryana will leave for Bikaner to participate in a fair, which could affect the turnout. The Opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), however, said the BJP’s request to defer polling was a sign that it had “admitted defeat”.

Senior BJP leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is also the patron of the All-India Bishnoi Mahasabha, a nodal organisation of the Bishnoi community, told The Indian Express on Saturday that lakhs of Bishnoi community members from across the country travel to participate in the Asoj Amavasya festival, prompting the body to seek deferment of the poll date.

“It is an extremely auspicious event for the Bishnoi community and is held twice every year – first in February-March, then in September-October. The exact date always depends on the Hindu calendar. This time it is on October 1,” Bishnoi said. “Lakhs of Bishnoi community members assemble at a place called Mukam in Rajasthan. The most sacred Mukam Mukti Dham temple is located on the Bikaner-Jodhpur state highway. The Bishnoi community’s founder Guru Jambeshwar’s Samadhi is located there.”

To mark the festival, which coincides with the new moon, members of the Bishnoi community will congregate for a ‘mahasabha’ across two days. “There are two temples where we hold our prayers and then our revered saints from across the country deliver discourses. Puja, hawans and yagyas are performed throughout the day,” Bishnoi said.

Citing such representations, the EC said on Saturday: “It may deny voting rights to a large number of people and may lead to reduced voters’ participation in general election to Legislative Assembly of Haryana. The Commission, having considered these representations, has decided to change the date of poll only for Haryana from 1st October, 2024 (Tuesday) to 5th October, 2024 (Saturday).”

A senior EC source said these issues were not raised when Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu visited Haryana to review poll preparations and met political parties last month. The EC had scheduled the polls keeping in mind the gazetted and restricted holidays in the state, the source said.

This isn’t the first time that the EC has changed poll dates. During the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls, polling was postponed by a week to accommodate devotees travelling to Varanasi for Guru Ravidas Jayanti. Similarly, in the 2022 Manipur elections, the polling date was revised since it fell on a Sunday, when Christians attend church. The 2023 Rajasthan polls were also rescheduled since it clashed with Devuthani Ekadashi, a day when mass weddings are held in the state. During the UP Assembly elections in 2012, polling was rescheduled due to Barawafat, which marks the death of Prophet Muhammad.