PANAJI
With some big rallies and press conferences lined up on Saturday, curtains will come down on formal campaigning at 5 pm even as voters will have to use a glove to cast their votes for the February 14 Goa assembly elections.
In view of safety precaution against virus transmission, voters will be provided one disposable glove at the polling booth. The glove to be used on the right hand and will be disposed after each individual finishes voting.
According to information from the Collector’s office, glove boxes have been kept ready for dispatch to respective polling centers and will be provided to every voter.
The voters have to throw the gloves in the plastic bags and move out from the voting centre.
The Goa Solid Waste Management Corporation has been tasked with the collection and disposal of these gloves.
Meanwhile, campaigning was robbed of the usual colour and flair as big rallies were restricted to a maximum attendance of 1,000 people while road-shows, bike and vehicle rallies were totally banned due to the restrictions imposed by Election Commission.
A galaxy of national leaders made their presence felt in Goa, attempting to woo the electorate to vote for their respective parties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have devoted much of their time to lead the campaign of their respective parties.
A host of other national leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP national President J P Nadda, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, former finance minister P Chidambaram, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and several serving and former chief ministers of other States also pumped up the electioneering in the State.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also made a couple of visits several months ago but has seemingly distanced herself from her party's flashy election bid powered by the party's election and strategy consultant I-PAC led by Prashant Kishore.
Meanwhile, 46 polling booths in South Goa have been identified as critical and 14 more as "vulnerable" according to South Goa Collector Ruchika Katial, IAS.
In North Goa, 11 booths are classified as critical and 16 vulnerable.
Central forces including 25 platoons of CRPF are part of a total police force of 8,500 personnel deployed to man the security and law-and-order arrangements for the election.
