MARGAO
Senior Congress party leaders hit the ground in its bastion, Salcete, with the 'Vote Chori' campaign on Monday to demand an end to voter list manipulation and disenfranchisement.
The campaign gave an opportunity for the party leaders, led by AICC Goa desk in-charge Manikrao Thakare, GPCC chief Amit Patkar, South Goa MP Captain Viriato Fernandes, district president Savio D’Silva, and party general secretaries, to make their presence felt on the ground ahead of the upcoming polls.
As expected, the BJP came under fire from the Congress leaders, who accused the ruling party of manipulating the electoral rolls in connivance with the election officials.
The Congress leaders demanded that the Election Commission make the machine-readable voter list, along with photos, available for public scrutiny; ensure public release of deletion and addition lists with photographs before every election; create an accessible grievance redressal system for wrongful deletions; avoid last-minute deletion or addition of votes; and announce a clear cut-off date well in advance.
The party also demanded the prosecution of officials/agents involved in systematic voter suppression.
After launching the campaign in Chinchinim village of Velim constituency, Thakare charged both the RSS and the BJP with alleged involvement in 'Vote Chori' to rule the country. “We are going to the people door to door. I am personally going to a few areas as part of the campaign,” he said.
MP Fernandes urged the Congress workers to "expose" the Election Commission to ensure that the voting rights of citizens are restored.
“In 2018, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had confidently stated that the BJP will rule the country for 50 years. We have no doubt that this confidence came because the BJP was involved in 'Vote Chori',” he said.
The MP even appealed to voters who have voted for the BJP to ensure that their names are registered on the electoral roll so that they do not get a shock on the day of polling when they find their vote missing or someone has cast their vote.
“Our democracy rests on the power of every vote. Today, this very foundation is under attack. Across constituencies, lakhs of entries in the voter lists are missing key details, including proper photographs. Many entries are found as duplicates and lakhs of names are missing from the rolls. Communities are selectively targeted, and fraudulent practices are being used to suppress genuine voters. This is nothing but 'Vote Chori' “ the theft of people's voices,” stated GPCC Chief Amit Patkar.
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Congress reaffirms alliance with GFP, open to ties with RGP to counter BJP
MARGAO: Asserting that the Congress has a pre-poll alliance with the Goa Forward Party, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Amit Patkar on Monday said the principal opposition party will have no objection to joining hands with anti-BJP forces, including the Revolutionary Goans Party, to "save Goa from destruction".
To a question on whether the Congress will have any tie-up with the regional parties, including the Goa Forward Party and Revolutionary Goans Party, Patkar said the Goa Forward Party is the alliance partner of the Congress. “Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai has said many times that the regional party has a pre-poll alliance with the Congress. The alliance between the two parties still exists. We have not disturbed the alliance,” he said.
As far as the Revolutionary Goans Party is concerned, the Congress president said the RGP has been raising issues facing the people of Goa and has been fighting against the BJP.
“If the people of Goa think that we should all come together to fight the BJP, there will be no option other than to come together to save Goa from destruction,” he asserted.
