GUWAHATI: It is not uncommon for people to pray during elections. Some people pray for the victory of their favourite candidate or political party. Some pray for violence-free polling. But praying for a change in the vote-counting date is not something that happens often.
In Mizoram, which went to polls on November 7 along with Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana, prayers were held in churches over the weekend seeking a divine intervention to change the vote-counting day, which falls on a Sunday.
Reverand K C Vanlalduha, a retired pastor, said people in the Christian-majority state are unhappy that the vote-counting falls on a Sunday. “Church services are held thrice – morning, afternoon, and evening – every Sunday. If the votes are counted on December 3, many of our members will get caught up with the process and won’t be able to attend the church,” Rev Vanlalduha said.
“Responding to our call, our members held prayers all over the state yesterday (Saturday),” Rev Vanlalduha, who is a member of the state’s largest church denomination ‘Mizoram Presbyterian Church’, told this newspaper on Sunday. It is not just one denomination, prayers were held in churches across denominations, he said.
A delegation of the Mizoram NGO Coordination Committee, is currently camping in New Delhi, and has gotten an appointment to meet EC officials on Tuesday. Earlier, Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee, a church organisation, had urged the churches in the state to seek a divine intervention through prayers.
Appeals fail to move E.C.
Soon after the poll schedule was out, numerous appeals were sent to the EC to change the counting date, with no success