PANAJI
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday raised serious concerns before the Election Commission of India in Delhi over the clash of two electoral processes being simultaneously held in Goa ” the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the upcoming Zilla Panchayat elections.
AAP’s Goa in-charge Atishi said they had a meeting with the Election Commission on Friday where they raised the issue of political parties being stretched to watch over the SIR process when ZP elections are simultaneously being held.
Atishi, along with party national general secretary Pankaj Gupta and Goa State president Amit Palekar, met the Election Commission and placed these concerns before the constitutional authority in a written submission.
“The SIR process has begun in Goa, and the draft roll will be released on December 9. But what concerns us greatly is that during this time, Zilla Panchayat elections are also happening in Goa on December 13,” Atishi said, adding that political parties will be involved in the election process and campaign.
“No political party will have the time to monitor or oversee the SIR process... Therefore, it is a matter of concern as to why both these processes are being conducted simultaneously in Goa,” Atishi said.
The former Delhi minister also flagged flaws in the SIR guidelines, arguing that they offer no remedy for those whose names are missing from the draft rolls.
“The SIR process offers no remedy for those whose names are missing from the draft rolls. The SIR guidelines only provide procedures for objections against wrongful inclusion in the draft rolls,” Atishi said.
