the goan I network
PANAJI
Voters in three constituencies in Goa - Mandrem, Mapusa and Shiroda - will be voting in two elections simultaneously for the first time since 1989. Chief Election Commissioner announced in Delhi on Sunday that polling for by-elections in the three vacant Assembly segments and two Lok Sabha seats of North and South Goa will be conducted simultaneously on April 23.
Results will be declared exactly a month later on May 23 along with counting to be taken up across the country.
The last time the electorate here voted simultaneously for Assembly and Lok Sabha elections was in 1989, the first election held after Goa attained Statehood and the strength of its Legislature was raised from 30 to 40 seats.
Then too, it was only the electorate of North Goa that had to vote in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections at the same time as polling for South Goa Lok Sabha seat was put off and held three months later, due to the infamous 1989 case of countermanding of elections.
Meanwhile, Goa’s Chief Electoral Officer Kunal, IAS, who held a press conference soon after the one addressed by the CEC in Delhi ended, announced that the election notification will be issued on March 28 for both the Lok Sabha elections and the bye-poll to the three Assembly constituencies.
Filing of nominations will end on April 4, while scrutiny will be held on April 5. Withdrawal of nominations will be allowed on April 8.
Kunal said, the total strength of the electorate as of today stood at 11,31,618 spread across 1652 polling stations (booths). Also, North Goa has 5,54,072 voters registered on the rolls and South Goa’s tally of voters stood at 5,77,546, he added.
However, the rolls for the April 23 elections will be finalised on April 4 and Indian citizens eligible to vote can still enroll themselves by filing voter registration applications up to March 25, which can also be done online, he said.
Meanwhile the strength of the electorate in Mandrem is 32,129, in Mapusa it is 29,103 and in Shiroda 28,919 voters are registered, Kunal said. Deputy Inspector General of Police, Rajesh Kumar, meanwhile said that the police will tighten surveillance over activity such as matka gambling and narcotics trade, where probability of money laundering is high.
Kumar also said that trade of certain tell-tale consumer goods which could be used to bribe voters in the markets will be under a close watch.
Kunal meanwhile said that the Election Commission will name central observers, both general and expenditure, who are expected to arrive in the state from the day the election is notified and filing of nominations begins.
He also said that the Excise department, police, Income Tax department and other related arms of the government will all function in a co-ordinated manner to ensure that there are no violations of the
law and a level playing field is maintained.
Meanwhile both the principal political parties in the State - the BJP and the Congress - welcomed the announcement of poll schedule and expressed their battle-readiness.
BJP General Secretary Sadanand Shet Tanavde said the party was ready while stating that they were expecting an earlier date than April 23.
“But April 23 is good,” Tanavade said, adding that the party organisation is poll-ready for the Lok Sabha as well as the bye-poll to the three Assembly seats.
The BJP holds both the North Goa and South Goa lok sabha seats.
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Sunil Kawthankar said the party was expecting the ECI to make the announcement much earlier, but welcomed the April 23 date.
“We welcome the dates. We are prepared and our candidates will be announced in four-five days,” Kawthankar said.
