Winning panel alleges a politician tried to influence the results
MARGAO
Triennium elections to the Margao Communidade were held on Sunday amidst acrimonious scenes and under police protection, as the panel headed by ST leader and BJP-backed Margao municipal councillor Camilo Barretto made a determined bid to wrest control of the body on Sunday.
Counting of votes which took place in the presence of the police gave the rival panel comprising Savio Correia, Celestin Noronha and Winston Colaco a comfortable victory.
Camilo immediately sought to challenge Savio Correia’s election on grounds that the latter is staying beyond seven kilometre distance from the Comunidade, but his petition found no takers as it was summarily rejected on the plea it was not supported by any documentary evidence.
After the election, Savio Correia slammed the rival group, saying a local politician from the ruling dispensation spared no efforts to win the election. He said the politicians added around 50 names just a day before the election, thus vitiating the entire election process. “The members of the Comunidade have given a fitting reply to the group”, he said.
Saying the Savio-Celestin-Winston panel has emerged victorious with two-thirds vote, Savio said the Margao Comunidade is committed to going hammer and tongs against illegal structures and encroachments on the Margao Comunidade. “Results of our action will be there for all of to see at the end of the three-year term”, he promised.
Camilo sad Jose Rosario Noronha-Macenzie Da Costa-Camilo Barretto group may have lost the election, but hastened to add that this is the first time that some members have come for voting fearing the new panel. “We hail from the low caste, but we have come and given them a tough fight. They had even closed the door of the meeting hall to prevent our members from casting their votes”, he said.
Camilo added: “Nobody had the guts to challenge us. We have contested the polls to give justice and relief to the poor farmers and common man by making them owners of the Comunidade land. I will continue to fight for them”.
Dismissing the charge there was political interference in the Margao Comunidade election, Camilo said, “There’s nothing political. The members were made as per the provisions of Comunidade code. Somehow, even old people were brought for the election by the rival group fearing they are losing hold over the Comunidade”.
Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco, who had come to cast his vote, said the government made a bid to take over the Margao Comunidade by force, but in vain. “This is an age-old institution formed by our ancestors, irrespective of caste and religion. The way the government went about the election for the Margao Comunidade by registering voters just three days before the polls, shows the malafide intention of the government”, he said and wondered whether the government had sought to bring the Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill with an eye on the Comunidade bodies.
