PANAJI
The Panchayat election issue is being churned out in the State and the Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant had to come out with a statement on the postponement of the polls. Taking a cautious stand, the CM told the media that whether the Panchayat elections are to be postponed or not will be decided by the State Election Commission, and not Goa government.
Deliberating that the government wishes to give 27% reservations to the OBCs in the State, the Chief Minister pointed out that given the Attorney General’s opinion and the recent verdict given by the Supreme Court, if we wish to conduct the elections now, the process has to be carried out without OBC reservations. “But we do not want to conduct elections like that. We wish to give reservation to OBC, as we understand that we have 27% brethren in the State and they need to be given representation,” said Sawant.
That’s why after considering AG’s opinion, Supreme Court orders, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra government’s case studies, it is clear that OBC reservations have to be given after going through the triple test process, said the CM.
“According to AG’s opinion the data has to be sent to the OBC Commission and verified. The percentage of OBC in various wards has to be verified. So, our current action would be to send our recommendations to the State Election Commission. We cannot say that we are postponing the elections, however, we recommend that since we wish to give OBC reservation, and ask time to send it to the OBC Commission and get the triple test done,” stated Sawant.
He further added that the OBC Commission will study and submit a report to us, which we shall be sending to the State Election Commission. It will be now upto the SEC to take the decision regarding the postponement of the election.
“Tomorrow we will be sending our recommendation to the SEC, and if they agree to our recommendation, they will say that the elections are postponed, and not us. It is up to the SEC to decide on the time factor. Whether to postpone the elections or not lies in the hands of the SEC now,” the CM clarified.
