Quixplained: why are political parties in Punjab seeking poll postponement

The Bharatiya Janata Party has joined the Congress to ask the Election Commission to postpone the elections in Punjab on account of Guru Ravidas Jayanti on February 16.

In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, Punjab BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma said the state has substantial followers of Guru Ravidas, including the Scheduled Caste community which is about 32 per cent of the population of Punjab.

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As of now, the Punjab Assembly election is slated to be held in a single phase on February 14 and the results will be out on March 10.

The demand for the postponement was first made by Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. The Punjab Lok Congress, headed by Captain Amarinder Singh, too has supported the demand to postpone the election by a week.

Channi said the issue was brought to his notice by representatives of the Scheduled Caste community. He said around 20 lakh SC devotees are likely to visit Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh between February 10 to February 16, 2022.