MARGAO
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Menino Cotta pegged the population of OBCs in the entire village at 4.7 percent. Despite this situation, Cota claimed that three wards of the seven member panchayat have been reserved for OBCs. Two other wards of this panchayat have been reserved for ladies. “In the seven member panchayat, five wards are reserved,” he added.
This, Cota said, has led to utter confusion in the electoral scenario in the village. Cota felt it would be better to hold elections in the entire village in all wards together rather than holding separate polls for some wards later.
Cota said the Front has fielded new faces in almost all the wards of the Betalbatim panchayat.
Speaking at the press conference, Dunstan D’Costa claimed Betalbatim to be in turmoil. He questioned the Director of Panchayat about the criteria adopted to reserve the wards and re-iterated the fact that three wards in the village have been reserved for the OBCs despite their population being pegged at around 4.6 percent. D’Costa said the three wards reserved for the OBCs have a population of 3 percent. He appealed to the State Election Commission (SEC) to look into this matter while demanding the holding of election to the entire village in all wards together.
Manuel Teles, Karol Rodrigues (Gonsal) and Cedric Fernandes were also present for the press conference.
