SANGUEM
The Sanguem OBC group has demanded that political reservations for Assembly constituencies in Goa should be implemented on a rotational basis, similar to the system followed for municipal, panchayat and district panchayat elections.
The demand was raised at a news conference attended by Supraj Tari, Vishal Naik, Prabhakar Naik, Gurunath Naik, Prashant Naik and Anand Naik.
Speaking to the media, Supraj Tari said the OBC community welcomed the move to provide political reservation to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community.
However, he stressed that the reservation should not be implemented permanently in a particular constituency, as was the case with the Pernem Assembly constituency, but should follow a rotational system similar to that adopted in local body elections.
Tari said the OBC community constitutes around 27 per cent of Goa's population but has remained politically neglected. He demanded that the government consider reserving 12 Assembly constituencies for the OBC community while framing a system of political reservation.
He further said that if the Sanguem Assembly constituency is not reserved for the ST community, the BJP should consider the interests and representation of the OBC community while deciding the constituency's political representation.
Gurunath Naik said rotational reservation would ensure that no section of society feels that it has been permanently deprived of political representation. He questioned why voters should accept rotational reservation in district panchayat elections while a similar system is not considered for Assembly elections.
"If voters accept the rotational reservation system implemented by the Election Commission for district panchayat elections, the same principle should also be applied to Assembly elections," he said.
Anand Naik also expressed his views on the issue and supported the demand for a fair and rotational system of political reservation.
