MARGAO
Warning that the Ordinance to do away with elections of Municipal Chairpersons by secret ballot will spell doom for democracy at the grass-root self-government institutions, Goa Forward Chief Vijai Sardesai on Wednesday gave a call for the people of Goa to launch a movement for the restoration of democracy in the State.
He said the Goa Forward will challenge the Ordinance as and when it is promulgated, saying the party is exploring various legal options.
Saying the government seemed hell-bent on bringing the Gujarat model of electing chairpersons of municipal bodies by show of hands, Sardesai has dared Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Congress-turned-BJP MLA Digambar Kamat to bring the Uttar Pradesh model to hold direct elections for the chairperson’s post, predicting the BJP will lose deposit in such a direct election.
The Goa Forward chief has given a call to all liberal, social and democratic forces to come together and join the battle for the restoration of democracy in the State.
Addressing the media, he squarely blamed the Chief Minister and the Margao MLA as the architects of the proposed Ordinance just because the BJP could not win the election for the MMC Chairperson’s post.
“But, this is not a simple issue as it appears. The government might have brought the Ordinance to win the MMC poll by hook and by crook. But, this Ordinance will soon be extended to all the civic bodies and the 180-odd panchayats. Hence, we have to unitedly fight to protect the democratic spirit of the secret ballot,” he said.
He added: “One often charges the states of UP and Bihar as jungle raj. But, in these two states, the Municipal Mayor is elected directly by the people. What the CM and Kamat have done is copying the Gujarat model to murder democracy in Goa.”
Referring to the sequence of events since the time the eight Congress MLAs defected to join the BJP on the eve of World Democracy Day and culminating in proposing an Ordinance on the eve of Dussehra, a festival celebrating victory over evil, Sardesai said the Ordinance will only ensure the political diktat will prevail over the conscience vote. “What the Ordinance has sought to achieve is to suffocate the elected members from exercising their conscience vote in the interest of their ward, city, Goa and to oppose controversial projects such as coal,” he said.
