BJP and JJP on Saturday welcomed the decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to extend the date of polling in Haryana to October 5 from October 1. The poll panel said the decision was taken keeping in mind an old festival of the Bishnoi community.

Speaking to a news agency, BJP state president Mohan Lal Badoli welcomed the EC’s decision. He said: “To ensure the participation of the public in elections, “We had written a letter to the Election Commission and I thank the EC for extending the polling date. I am confident that the number of voters will increase after this step.”

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Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly, Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “It is the Election Commission’s right, and it has the right to extend the polling date.”

Hooda also criticized the BJP, stating that the saffron party has already accepted defeat in Haryana. When the Haryana government wrote a letter to the Election Commission, “I had said at that time that the BJP had accepted defeat.”

Former Deputy Chief Minister and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala also welcomed the decision.

He stated: “We welcome this decision. This clearly shows that the BJP is adopting all these tactics to avoid its defeat. Changing the date will do nothing because people have made up their minds to defeat them.”

AAP Haryana President Sushil Gupta said: “The BJP is scared of the public. They have made up their minds to remove the corrupt BJP government from power.”

He added that the BJP wants to stay in power for four more days by doing this. “We are ready to fight the elections on all seats in Haryana,” he said.