CANCELLATION OF PONDA BY-POLL
PANAJI
The abrupt cancellation of the Ponda bye-election has left candidates fuming and voters resigned to a long wait for representation in the Goa legislative assembly.
Congress candidate Ketan Bhatikar minced no words in his reaction. Speaking to local media, he said the decision was “an insult to the people of Ponda.”
“We were ready for the contest. People were ready to vote. At the eleventh hour, the plug was pulled. This is not democracy. This is betrayal,” Bhatikar added.
Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) candidate at the now cancelled by-poll Gitesh Naik expressed similar outrage saying weeks were spent on reaching out to voters and suddenly the election was cancelled.
"People of Ponda don’t deserve representation?,” Naik asked even as he accused Constitutional authorities of mishandling the process and leaving the constituency in limbo.
The High Court’s order striking down the bye-election led the Election Commission to rescind the entire poll process. With fresh election unlikely, Ponda will remain unrepresented in the Goa Legislative Assembly until the next general election due in early 2027.
On the ground in Ponda, meanwhile, the mood was less fiery. Voters did express disappointment but not anger.
“We were prepared to vote. Now we are told there will be no election. Who will raise our issues in the Assembly?,” asked Allwyn Rodrigues, a student who said it would be the second time he would have exercised his vote today after having done it the first time in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. In 2022, he was underage.
“We may not be angry, but we feel cheated. Ponda will have no voice until 2027. That is unfair,” he added.
The cancellation has created a democratic void. For candidates, it is a political setback after weeks of campaigning. For voters, it is a loss of representation at a time when local issues demanded attention.
The reactions highlight the depth of frustration. Candidates see betrayal, voters see abandonment but both agree Ponda has been silenced in the Assembly, and its people must wait nearly a year before democracy restores their voice where it matters: the State's legislature.
