The Haryana assembly election will be held on October 5 instead of 1 to honour the voting rights and respect the traditions of the Bishnoi community, whose festival falls during this period, the Election Commission (EC) announced today.
Accordingly, the counting day for both Haryana and the Jammu and Kashmir elections has been revised to October 8 from 4.
The EC acknowledged that the Bishnoi community has upheld a centuries-old practice to participate in the Asoj Amavasya festival in remembrance of Guru Jambeshwar.
The EC had received representations from the All India Bishnoi Mahasabha based in Rajasthan’s Bikaner for rescheduling voting day in Haryana. The Bishnoi group said that for generations numerous families from Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana have observed a tradition of visiting their village Mukam in Rajasthan during “Amavas” in the month of “Asoj”.