SANGUEM
Stating that the Supreme Court judgement on Friday had exposed the State government's involvement in 'settings' to win elections, Sanguem MLA Prasad Gaonkar and two petitioners in the high court ward reservation case have demanded immediate the resignation of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on moral grounds.
Addressing a news conference, Gaonkar, former Sanguem Municipal Council (SMC) chairperson Romauldo Fernandes and former SMC vice-chairperson Fouziya Imtiaz Shaikh also demanded the appointment of a full-time State Election Commissioner (SEC), who is a neutral person and not a government official.
“The landmark judgement by the Supreme Court on ward reservation of five municipalities, including SMC, has not only exposed the illegalities and manipulations of the BJP government, but also passed stringent structures on the functioning of the state administration.”
“This Supreme Court judgement has also exposed how the BJP government has been involved in 'settings' to win the elections,” said Gaonkar.
“We demand the immediate resignation of the chief minister on moral grounds and also demand the appointment of a full-time SEC, who must be neutral and not a government official.”
The Sanguem MLA also thanked the people of Sanguem, especially from the municipal area, who supported them in this fight against injustice by the government on the ward reservation issue.
Fernandes and Shaikh had challenged the notification of ward reservations in SMC for the ST and OBC before the high court.
Fernandes, who was the first to challenge the reservation notification issued by the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA), had claimed that his Ward 1 had been reserved for ST candidates, despite barely about four ST voters in his ward.
Fernandes had argued that there were other wards in Sanguem town with a significant ST population, which could have been reserved for the ST candidates.
