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Owing to various festivals the EC has now rescheduled the assembly by-polls in Kerala, Punjab and UP from November 13 to November 20 .
In a press statement, the ECI said, “Representations have been received in the Commission from various recognised National and State political parties (including BJP, INC, BSP, RLD) and some social organisations for change of date of poll in some Assembly Constituencies having bye-elections on 13th November 2024, considering large scale social, cultural and religious engagements on that day which may cause inconvenience to large number of people, give rise to various logistic issues and may lead to reduced voters participation during the poll.”
Nine seats are going to polls in Uttar Pradesh, four in Punjab and one in Kerala. Parties including Congress, BJP, BSP and RLD had urged the poll body to reschedule the polls in view of various festivals, saying that it could impact voter turnout.
According to the Congress, a significant portion of the electorate in the Palakkad assembly seat in Kerala will celebrate the festival of Kalpathi Rastholsavam from November 13 to 15.
In Punjab, the party had said, the 555th Prakash Parv of Sri Guru Nanak Dev will be celebrated on November 15 and an ‘akhand path’ will be organised from November 13 onwards. BJP, BSP and RLD had said that in Uttar Pradesh, people travel for three-four days ahead of Kartik Purnima, which will be celebrated on November 15.
