MARGAO
Can the Margao Municipal Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar stop political meetings at the historic Lohia Maidan in Margao, the symbol of free speech and expression, on the excuse that the Maidan has been hit by a short circuit?
If a short circuit is the reason behind the MMC’s decision not to allow public meetings of political parties, the question arises whether the civic body has written to the Power department to disconnect the main supply to the Lohia Maidan and allow the meetings to take place at the venue by directing the organisers to arrange for power generators.
These and other questions have come to the fore as Margao Municipal Chief Officer seemed firm in his decision, ruling out the possibility of the civic body doing a re-think on the opening of the Lohia Maidan for political meetings ahead of the May 7 Lok Sabha polls.
When his attention was drawn to a suggestion that the MMC could allow the political parties to hold public meetings by disconnecting the main power supply to the Maidan and directing the organisers to arrange their own generators, the Chief Officer said he did not want to take any risk in the matter.
The Chief Officer said he is ready to face the High Court in the event any of the political parties knock on the doors of the judiciary seeking directions to the MMC to open the doors of the Lohia Maidan for public meetings.
The MMC has imposed a blanket ban on public meetings of political parties at the Lohia Maidan. When 'The Goan' asked the Chief Officer to shed light on whether the MMC would throw open the Maidan for political meetings ahead of the May 7 polls, Sankhwalkar said the MMC has written to the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) to rectify the electrical fault resulting in the short circuit. “We have asked GSUDA to rectify the fault since the short circuit has taken place during the maintenance liability period,” he said.
This is perhaps the first time in the post-Liberation history of Goa that the Lohia Maidan will not be available for public meetings of political parties in the run-up to the election.
Symbolising free speech and expression over the years since Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and Dr Juliao Menezes gave a call to the people of Goa to arise against the Portuguese regime on June 18, 1946, the Lohia Maidan has played host to hundreds, if not thousands of meetings, in the over six-decade history of the Maidan.
