PANAJI
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Goa has stepped up its push for the reservation of Assembly seats for Scheduled Tribes ahead of the upcoming Goa polls, with senior leaders taking the demand to Delhi and a delegation meeting the Chief Electoral Officer.
A BJP delegation led by core committee member Govind Parvatkar met CEO Sanjay Goel and submitted a memorandum seeking urgent action on the proposal. Parvatkar said the party’s top leadership, including Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, BJP Goa President Damodar Naik and Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Shet Tanavade, are currently in New Delhi to pursue the matter.
“They will be meeting party leaders in Delhi to ensure the Election Commission of India starts the process to reserve the seats for STs before the upcoming election,” Parvatkar told reporters.
He further said the delegation informed the CEO that all formalities required for ST reservation had already been completed by the state government led by the BJP. He added that the Goa Assembly had also passed a resolution supporting the proposal.
Speaking to reporters separately, CEO Goel said Parliament had already passed The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2024, and the process would now be carried forward by the Election Commission of India in coordination with the Registrar General of India and the Union Law Ministry.
“The data on the ST population is already available with the CEO’s office, and constituencies would be identified on that basis,” he said.
