MARGAO
With the State Election Commission announcing the schedule for the election for the 25-member Margao Municipal Council, the poll officials are once again bracing to accept the nomination papers of the contesting candidates.
Perhaps for the first time in recent election history, the polling officials, including the Returning Officer, will be accepting nomination papers for the Margao Municipal Council election for the third time in the last one month.
The election process for the Margao civic body had started along with other councils before the High Court order on ward reservations left the office of the Returning Officer with no option but to keep the process on hold.
The process again resumed days after the Supreme Court stayed the High Court order by a few days, before the Apex Court upheld the HC’s verdict, which later forced the State Election Commission to scrap the election process and to start the process afresh along with the ward reservations.
As the SEC has fixed filing of nomination papers from Thursday, the office of the Returning Officer for the MMC polls, was bracing up to kick-start the exercise all over again.
Returning Officer and Margao Sub-divisional Magistrate, Jyoti Kumar informed that all arrangements are in place for the election process that starts from Thursday. “We have put in place all the necessary arrangements for the smooth conduct of the exercise in respect of filing of nomination papers,” Jyoti told The Goan.
Around 90 candidates had filed their nomination papers for the 25-member Margao Municipal Council election, with a couple of wards witnessing straight contests, before the entire process was scrapped by the Election Commission.
