Minority vote bank politics?Cong in Kerala urges EC to shift polling date to avoid Friday

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to reschedule the polling in the southern state as it currently falls on a Friday, considered the most significant day of the week in Islam.

 

In a joint letter to the poll panel, KPCC acting president M M Hassan and leader of the Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan requested to shift the day of voting from April 26 citing potential difficulties for Muslim voters, reported PTI citing party sources.

 

The letter said that holding elections on Friday or Sunday could pose significant inconvenience to the voters as well as poll officers and booth agents, according to the report.

 

“The polling date in Kerala is April 26. In Kerala, Friday and Sunday will be inconvenient to various sections of the community. So we have demanded to change the polling date to some other date,” Hassan told ANI.

 

 

“I have also sent emails to the Central Election Commissioner and the UDF chairman and the opposition leader. He has also sent a mail to the Central Election Commissioner,” he added.

 

Earlier, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had also expressed intentions to approach the poll panel seeking to change the polling dates in Kerala as well as Tamil Nadu, which votes in the first phase on April 19, also a Friday.

 

The IUML, a key ally of Congress in Kerala, had said it would approach the ECI to change the dates of elections in the two southern states.

 

"The announcement of polling on Friday will cause inconvenience to voters, candidates, polling agents, and officials assigned to election duty. We will move the ECI," P M A Salam, state general secretary of IUML, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

 

The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections last week, making it a seven-phase affair. The polling will begin on April 19 and will extend to the peak summer month of June.