the goan I network
CANACONA
In a rare show of protest, virtually all 223 locals from Marlem and Tirval in Poinguinim snubbed appeals by election officials and political leaders to exercise their franchise and boycotted Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday.
With only one voter turning up at the polling station, the polling booth at Marlem wore a deserted look throughout the day, after locals had decided to boycott elections over the failure by successive governments to provide a proper road and electricity in Marlem, which falls in the Cotigao wildlife sanctuary, for several decades.
Incidentally, the Marlem polling booth witnessed only 15 votes being cast and 13 of them pertained to election staff on duty (EDC) and two votes were those of a Booth Level Officer (BLO) and a local. Both of them are locals from Marlem-Tirval and were on the voting list of Marlem.
The polling booth at Marlem, which caters to voters of Marlem and Tirval, has a total of 223 voters eligible to vote.
RARE SOLIDARITY
Such had been the solidarity that most voters left their homes for their normal work in the morning and none went to the polling booth during the day.
“We had already decided not to vote on Tuesday to protest against successive governments for ignoring our locality for many decades. We will continue to boycott every election in future unless government authorities undertake development in our locality,” informed a local Pandurang Gaonkar, while speaking to reporters in the locality on Tuesday afternoon.
OFFICIALS DISMAYED
The election team posted at the Marlem polling booth were left with virtually no work from 7 am to 6 pm, even though all arrangements had been made to conduct polling in the remote area of Canacona taluka.
Aware of the planned boycott by locals, Canacona Deputy Collector Sagun Velip and Canacona Mamlatdar Raghuraj Phaldessai had also visited Marlem to enquire about the turnout, but were reportedly disappointed that voters had not turned up at the polling booth to vote.
The Sector Officer Shivram Naik Gaonkar took several rounds and was also seen interacting with the Presiding Officer Deshpande and his staff, who were seen patiently waiting for the arrival of voters at the polling booth.
Naik Gaonkar later confirmed that only one voter and the BLO had cast their voters from the voter list of Marlem polling station.
ANONYMITY IN DOUBT
With only two votes cast by the Booth Level Officer (BLO) and one local -- both of whom are in the voting list of Marlem -- at the Marlem polling booth, the secrecy of their ballots could now be in doubt.
If both votes at the Marlem polling booth are polled in favour for any one candidate or even NOTA, their choice would become apparent. The only chance of maintaining secrecy is if the BLO and the local voted for a different candidate.
2 HAMLETS UNITE
It was a major setback to election authorities and political parties, when voters from Tirval also decided to boycott the Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday in solidarity with the agitating voters from the neighbouring hamlet of Marlem.
Initially, the decision of an entire Marlem hamlet in a remote part of Canacona taluka to boycott polls had sent authorities into a tizzy, prompting government officials, election officials and poll icons to rush to Marlem in a bid to pacify the agitated locals.
While Jagdish Gaonkar insisted that all voters would boycott the polls, election officials led by Chief Electoral Officer Kunal claim they had been successful in persuading the locals to exercise their franchise.
Marlem locals are upset because the only approach muddy pathway, which passes through the Cotigao wildlife sanctuary, is nearly 3 kms from the tarred road at Tirval-Poinguinim.
Upset that their demand for a tarred road had been left unanswered by successive governments for many decades, Marlem locals decided to boycott all future elections, beginning with the Lok Sabha polls.
Tirval locals have a road and electricity in their
area, but said they would also boycott the LS polls, in support of the demands of the Marlem locals.
