The Election Commission on Monday announced that the single-phase assembly polls in Punjab will now be held on February 20 instead of February 14. Several political parties had urged the EC to postpone the polls in view of Ravidas Jayanti on February 16.

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Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, BJP and its allies, and the BSP had urged the poll panel to postpone the date of voting as lakhs of followers of Guru Ravidas travel to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to celebrate the day. The parties had said that several followers of Guru Ravidas would not be able to exercise their franchise on February 14 as they would be travelling.

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The Punjab CM said he welcomes the Election Commission's decision as it will enable a large number of followers from the state to travel to Varanasi to celebrate the Guru's birth anniversary.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said, "We had urged the Election Commission to postpone the date and we welcome the EC decision. Badal's party is contesting next month's polls in alliance with the BSP.

First Published:Jan 17, 2022 4:16 PM IST