BJP wanted to postpone Haryana Assembly elections due to refusal to serve: Congress MP Ajay Maken

New Delhi [India]September 1 (ANI): Congress leader Ajay Maken on Sunday said that the BJP wants to postpone the assembly elections in Haryana as it is facing incumbency in the state.

“We are ready. We were ready earlier too. We are prepared even if the elections are held tomorrow. The BJP wants to postpone the elections one way or the other because it is against the incumbents. We will win comfortably,” Maken told ANI.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday postponed the polling day for the Haryana Legislative Assembly elections from October 1 to 5 this year and advanced the counting of votes for the Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana Legislative Assemblies from October 4 to 8.

On the Congress candidates for the election, Maken said, “The odds of winning are the criteria. Tickets will be given to the winners.” AICC Haryana representative Deepak Babaria said this delay will not affect the Congress's poll preparations.

“… the BJP had problems. They ran the government ad hoc for 10 years, they fixed the dates ad hoc… later the dates were changed. But this process affected the entire administration, the voters and the schedule… It will not affect us at all. We see it as nothing but their failure,” Babaria said.

Congressman Manickam Tagore also sharply criticized the Election Commission for postponing the election.

“Not only ED and CBI, but now the Election Commission has also started working for the BJP. It is very unfortunate that the Election Commission has postponed the date on the request of a political party and it shows that the BJP is scared of defeat in Haryana,” Tagore told ANI.

“The unpopular BJP-led government in Haryana will be defeated by a wide margin in every constituency and the Congress government will be formed in Haryana with a clear verdict of the people,” he added.

Meanwhile, BJP chief Anil Vij on Sunday defended the Election Commission's decision. He criticised the Congress party for criticising the Election Commission's actions and said it was an expression of their flight from the elections.

“This reflects the BJP's commitment to democracy in India and to making people vote in large numbers. On the part of the Congress, it shows that they are running away,” Vij told ANI.

“If you (Congress) don't like this process, stay home and don't vote. Let those who like the process vote… What kind of manipulation is it if the dates have been changed? The dates have been changed in the interest of the people,” he added.

Meanwhile, former Haryana chief minister and Congress MP Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Saturday that the move reflected an admission of impending electoral defeat by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“It is the right of the Election Commission to extend the date. They (the BJP) have already accepted their defeat in Haryana. When the Haryana government wrote a letter to the Election Commission, I said then that the BJP has accepted its defeat,” Hooda said. (ANI)