Digital Desk: The Election Commission of India stated on Monday that the polling date for the Punjab Assembly election would be rescheduled. The ECI has announced that voting will now take place in a single phase on February 20. Voting for the 117 assembly seats in Punjab was originally set for February 14. On the other hand, political parties urged the poll panel to change the date due to Guru Ravidass Jayanti on February 16.
Almost all political parties, including the BJP, BSP, SAD (Sanyukt), and Punjab Lok Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh, had demanded that the Punjab Assembly elections be rescheduled. In light of Guru Ravidass Jayanti, Congress leader and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi also petitioned the EC to postpone the elections by six days.
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Guru Ravidass Jayanti commemorates Guru Ravidas' birth anniversary. It is observed on Magh Purnima, the full moon day in the Hindu calendar month of Magh. Guru Ravidas was born in the 14th century in the Uttar Pradesh village of Seer Govardhanpur, near Varanasi. On this day, followers of Guru Ravidas go to Varanasi's Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan to pray. The journey will take place this year from February 10 to 16. In Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and other states, Guru Ravidass Jayanti is observed as a public holiday.
Political parties claimed that thousands of devotees travel to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, to commemorate the day, and that they would be unable to vote in Punjab because of the pilgrimage.
The results will be announced on March 10 along with the results of Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, the ECI stated.
