The earlier date coincided with Devuthani Ekadashi, considered auspicious by many, as well as thousands of weddings in the state.
Following representations from parties and social organisations, the Election Commission of India has shifted the date of polling in Rajasthan from November 23 to November 25.
The earlier date coincided with Devuthani Ekadashi, considered auspicious by many, as well as thousands of weddings in the state.
Among the representations received by the ECI was one from Lok Sabha MP P P Chaudhary, who said that the polling day coincides “with a very big festival, Devuthani Ekadashi, which is associated with cultural and religious devotion. On this festival, crores of devotees go to river, mansarover and holy places to take bath. While this festival is celebrated all over the country, it has great influence in Rajasthan where it is famous as ‘Abujh Saave’.”
Chaudhary said he received “a large number of letters from senior citizens, youth, organisations and the general public from various parts of Rajasthan. In
view of this great festival, they have made a special request to conduct the voting two days before or after (the current polling date).”
The day also marks the beginning of the wedding season.
Citing media reports, Chaudhary said that more than 50,000 weddings will take place on that day. “Various sections, including relatives, confectioners, tent services, bands are directly involved in a wedding. People travel from one place to another. In both circumstances, they would hardly be able to leave their work or function and go to vote,” Chaudhary said.
“It is our responsibility and the responsibility of the Election Commission to increase the voting percentage… Organising voting in Rajasthan on a big festival will directly affect the Election Commission’s resolution on voting awareness,” he said.
On Wednesday, the EC said that “representations have been received from various political parties, social organisations and also issues raised in various media platforms for change of date of poll considering large scale wedding/social engagement on that day, which may cause inconvenience to large number of people, various logistic issues and may lead to reduced voters participation during poll.”
Ravi Jindal, national president of All India Tent Decorators’ Welfare Association, said that “we will sleep peacefully tonight. It is a very good move.”He said that about 50,000 weddings are expected during Devuthani Ekadashi in Rajasthan and that polling would have been affected due to it.
Apart from the relatives of the bride and the groom, he said that about 4.5 lakh additional personnel who are engaged in light, flower, generator, and other services around weddings would have also been affected.Devuthani Ekadashi is one of the top five auspicious occasions for weddings in the state, with others being Basant Panchami – January/February, Phulera Dooj – February/March, Akha Teej / Akshaya Tritiya – April/May and Devshayani Ekadashi – June / July.“It is the most auspicious day for marriage in five months, hence we had raised the issue with the ECI through their app, helpline number, and other means,” Jindal said, adding that “and not only will we, but those who had scheduled weddings on that date also sleep peacefully as there will be no obstruction now.”Om Sodhani, president of Jaipur Catering Dealer Samiti, said, “It is a very good decision.
There are weddings and functions on 25th, 28th and 30th (November) etc. – and it would have been even better had the polling date been advanced – but still, it is very good as the number of weddings on 23rd is enormous.”He said that it is not only the Hindus which would have been affected, but people from all communities “as the people who work in this industry come from all backgrounds.”
While 421 caterers of Jaipur are registered with the Catering organisation, Sodhani says that there are well over 2,000 caterers in Jaipur alone, “excluding halwai, street food counter etc. The labourers would have been troubled a lot. And those who had a wedding function on 23th wouldn’t have been able to cast their vote.”
