CANACONA
Former minister Isidore Fernandes on Thursday requested Canacona Deputy Collector Prataprao Gaonkar to hold hearings in respective panchayat areas or depute electoral officers to visit the homes of senior or bedridden citizens against whom some clandestinely filed claims seek to remove their names from the voter list.
He also voiced concerns over attempts to delete the names of Catholic voters from the electoral list.
When Fernandes informed that most of the notices are issued to Catholics to delete their names from the voters’ list, Gaonkar shot back stating, “Not only most, but over 95% of the Form-7 received are against Catholic voters in the Canacona constituency.”
“But there are five different categories of complaints against them, including complaints against existing voters who have even recently voted; some have not voted as they are temporarily outside the State or country for employment purposes; some have migrated for long periods; some have given up Indian citizenship and taken the citizenship of another country; and still another type of people who have taken the citizenship of another country but have not divulged the same.”
“While the first two categories will get a proper hearing through their next of kin or relatives and be given due justice, the last three categories will be properly investigated and justice will be given as per procedure,” Gaonkar added.
Gaonkar also clarified that visiting houses or holding hearings in respective panchayats is not allowed as per ECI guidelines, but the required field report will be obtained from the respective BLOs.
CMC Councillor Shubham Komarpant and Loliem-Polem ex-panch Santan Da Costa also accompanied Fernandes while he presented a memorandum to the Deputy Collector over the selective filing of Form-7 to delete the names of Catholics from the voter list.
