MARGAO
Tension and anxiety was writ large on the faces of candidates contesting the Navelim seat as hundreds of army men came out of the barracks from the Rawanfond military camp in Navelim constituency on Saturday to cast their vote in the Assembly election.
The presence of 700-odd army men standing in a serpentine queue as registered voters outside the Ganttamorod booth of Aquem Baixo village, gave anxious moments for the contestants, who were neither allowed to canvass inside the military camp nor meet the voters, many amongst whom were young and first time voters. In fact, the candidates were all keeping their fingers crossed, trying to find out who will actually benefit from the army men's votes and how this huge votes could swing the tide in the favour of the contestants.
State Congress president Luizinho Faleiro, Independent sitting MLA Avertano Furtado, MGP’s Satyavijai, Goa Vikas Party nominee George Barretto, Goa Forward party-backed independent Cipru Cardozo and Independent Duarte Pires all came rushing to the polling booth as the army men stood in a long queue to cast their votes.
While sitting Independent MLA Avertano Furtado said the army men are all registered voters and have the right to vote, his rivals in the fray, including Faleiro pointed out that it is apparent that they have been brought for voting with a motive and purpose. “When I realized that around 700 army men are registered as voters, I went to the military camp with a plea to meet the voters, but they turned down my plea saying that according to military rules candidates cannot meet them. In-charge, Col Dhani, who hails from Ponda, only assured me that he would communicate my plea to the voters inside and that they cannot allow us inside the camp," Faleiro said, expressing doubts whether the army men are aware of the candidates contesting the Navelim seat.
“In the constituency, we move from house to house, canvassing for one vote. But, here is the case where 700 voters come from the military camp, which can tilt the balance. More so, when the candidates were not allowed to meet the army men voters," Faleiro told the media.
An army officer told the media that the army voters will cast their vote as per their choice and even they cannot influence them. Faleiro, however, wondered how the army men will cast their vote in favour of a particular candidate when they have not been allowed to canvass at the camp.
Goa Forward party-backed Independent candidate Cipru Cardozo and Goa Vikas Party candidate, George Barretto wondered how the army men could be allowed to vote.
The army men’s presence also left the local residents fuming as they wondered how the military men could cast their vote for the first time in the Ghantamorod booth.
An elderly woman from Ghantamorod told the media that she has never seen army men standing in a queue to cast their votes in an election in the village. “Since the time of the United Goans, we have been participating in the elections, but for the first time we have seen army men standing in queues to cast their vote," she said.
Local voters from Ghantamorod also complained of hardships and inconveniences since they had to stand for hours in the long queue before casting their vote. Candidates were seen requesting the polling officers to make way for the local residents to cast their vote.
They further demanded to know whether the army men will come and vote in the panchayat election and the Zilla Panchayat election in the future. “This is nothing, but fixing by certain political forces. We have never seen these army men participating in the gram sabha or panchayat meetings of Aquem Baixo village," remarked a resident.
