MARGAO
Congress-turned-BJP Margao MLA Digambar Kamat on Saturday asserted those who fry foul over the Ordinance on voting by show of hands should show where the word secret ballot is mentioned in the Goa Municipalities Act for the election of Municipal Chairperson.
He pooh-phooed the ongoing protests by some against the Ordinance, asserting that numbers reign supreme in a democratic set up, those who have the numbers Wohi Sikandar.
During an interaction with the media after inaugurating the Blive EV store at Arlem-Margao on Saturday, Kamat asserted aggressively: “Show me the word secret ballot in the Goa Municipalities Act. Have these people who are shouting against the Ordinance read the Act? The Act is in my car and I can show that there is no word secret ballot in the Act, or these people should show me the word.”
He further went on to say that if the Presiding Officer feels in his discretion that it should be by ballot, he may hold the election by ballot but hastened to add that it is not by secret ballot but by showing it openly after stamping the ballot a la the Rajya Sabha.
“If the Presiding Officer holds the election by ballot, it means the voter can stamp the ballot and show it openly like how it is done in the Rajya Sabha election,” he said adding, “I have told them to show word secret ballot in the Act.”
Rejecting claims in certain quarters that the government has murdered democracy by bringing the Ordinance, Kamat said “These people should understand that in a democratic set-up, the numbers matter. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar.”
