the goan I network
MARGAO
Recount of votes of Ward No one 1 of Betalbatim village Panchayat on Wednesday saw no change in the results declared by the Returning Officer in the 2017 Panchayat election, bringing a sigh of relief to Panch Minu Antonio Fernandes.
The recount of the votes was ordered by the High Court in a petition filed by the loosing candidate Inacio Mariano Fernandes after Minu Antonio volunteered before the Judge for a recount.
Additional district Collector Surendra Naik, who was appointed the Returning Officer by the State Election Commission, took up the recount in the presence of Minu Antonio Fernandes and Inacio Mariano Fernandes. None of the Salcete mamlatdar officials were involved in the counting process, other than ferrying the trunk containing the ballot papers of Ward No 1 & 2 of Betalbatim Panchayat. The entire recount process was video filmed as per the High Court directions.
After the recount, the Additional Collector declared that there was no change in the result, giving a big sigh of relief to Minu as well as Betalbatim Sarpanch Constancio Miranda.
After the recount, Minu told the media that he had opted for a recount before the High Court to see that the proceedings do not drag on forever and that the officials, who had counted the votes also get a clean chit. “It has been proved by the result that the counting officials had carried out their duty with honesty”, Minu said, while expressing his happiness over the result.
Betalbatim Sarpanch Constancio Miranda said the petition instituted by the defeated candidate has not only meted out harassment for Minu, but also for him as a Sarpanch as they had to appear before the High Court for the hearing.
In this case, the petitioner Inacio Mariano Fernandes had contested the Gram panchayat elections as a ward number. His rival contender Minu Antonio Fernandes was the first respondent. The petitioner lost and preferred a petition before Election Tribunal, complaining of various things.
The petitioner lost the election by four votes; that is, the airplane lost. In the second ward, the candidate with the symbol airplane won. Thin as the margin was, the petitioner contended that the election officers have been biased. They have, he alleged, illegally transferred twenty votes from his lot to the candidate having the same symbol in the second ward. So he lost the election.
Complaining thus, the petitioner filed an election petition before the Administrative Tribunal. Among other things, he alleged that the ballot papers of his ward got mixed with those of the neighbouring ward.
