Most of the Assembly constituencies in Salcete taluka have registered a marginal rise in the electorate after the intensive revision of electoral roll. The twin constituencies of Margao and Fatorda, however, turned out an exception. These two Assembly constituencies, which has a sizeable concentration of migrant and floating population, saw a substantial decline in the number of voters when other constituencies have registered a rise in the voters, finds Guilherme Almeida.
Why has the twin Assembly constituencies of Margao and Fatorda registered a decline in the voters population after the intensive revision of electoral roll? Is it because of the deletion of names of the migrant floating population, who are registered as voters at more than one place. Or, is it because of the general cleansing of the electoral roll, including deletion of names of the dead, married and registered at their new place of residence et al.
Information accessed by The Goan has revealed that Margao’s electorate has come down to 27904 voters compared to 29149 when the draft roll was opened for cleansing, indicating a decline of 1245 voters. A glance at the statistics showed that the election authorities deleted a whopping 1922 voters from the Margao electoral list “ perhaps the highest figure in recent times.
The situation in neighbouring Fatorda is no different. As against a total electorate of 28379 when the draft roll was opened for publication, the figure came down to 27887, a decline of around 500 voters. A glance at the statistics revealed that the election authorities deleted as many as 1500 voters from the electoral roll as part of the cleansing process.
When The Goan contacted Assistant Electoral Registration Officer for Margao and Fatorda constituencies, deputy Collector, Ajit Panchwadkar to shed light on the decline in the voters population in the two constituencies, he attributed the same to the intensive cleansing of the electoral roll by the Mamlatdar officials and the Booth Level Officers. “I had made it clear to the officials that the names of those who are not residing at their place of residence should be struck down. The drive has paid rich dividends since we ensured that those not found at their residence were deleted from the roll”, Ajit said.
Joint Chief Electoral Officer, N S Navti told The Goan that Salcete Joint Mamlatdar Roselyn Fernandes deserves appreciation for carrying out the exercise in a systematic manner. “The Joint Mamlatdar ensured that the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) twice visited the place of residence of those not found during the exercise. It was only after the BLOs submitted a report that the voters were not found at their place of resident, notices were issued for deletion of names”, Navti said.
Sources in the know said that names of many a migrant voter from the Khareband belt have been deleted from the electoral list during the intensive drive. A couple of names from the migrant-inhabited Moti Dongor were also struck down during the exercise.
Former Margao Municipal Chairperson Savio Coutinho, who had complained of the presence of large number of migrants voters on the electoral list though they no longer stay in the city, said though the huge deletion of names is welcome, the exercise needs to be taken to its logical conclusion.
“I would like to know from the election authorities how 1500 voters are registered on the electoral list at Azad Nagar when there are hardly few residents inhabiting the migrant colony. I am certain that a large number of do not stay in the city, but are brought from their native places to cast their votes”, Coutinho said.
Margao 29149 677 1922 27904
Fatorda 28379 957 1449 27887
*******
Barring Nuvem constituency, the remaining five Assembly constituencies of Curtorim, Benaulim, Navelim, Cuncolim and Velim registered a margin rise in the voters population after the intensive revision of the electoral roll.
In fact, Nuvem constituency witnessed a decline in the electorate by only 82 votes, while Curtorim, Benaulim, Navelim, Cuncolim and Velim registered a rise in voters this time round.
When an election official was asked to shed light on the decline in the electorate in Margao, Fatorda and Nuvem and a rise in the voters in the remaining five Assembly constituencies, he said that the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were primarily responsible for cleansing of the electoral roll during the revision exercise.
Nuvem 28053 518 600 27971
Curtorim 27621 429 236 27814
Benaulim 28410 438 261 28587
Navelim 26209 659 554 26314
Cuncolim 28047 570 194 28423
Velim 30696 545 201 31040
