PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday sought to draw a hard line between his government and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asking the Congress to stop politicising an exercise that belonged solely to the Election Commission of India.
“It is an ECI issue ... not a political issue. Everyone with a grievance is given an opportunity by the ECI to appeal. ECI is an independent body... the issue is not related to a political party or the CM,” Sawant said, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of the BJP’s e-library at its new office.
His remarks came as the SIR exercise is facing controversy across the country and in Goa, where some voters alleged that their names were left out of the final electoral roll despite being eligible to vote.
BJP State President Damu Naik also hit out at the Congress, accusing it of rushing to blame the government over the electoral exercise. “Blaming is early, and Congress has only this tactic to reach out to the people. We will have to remind them of the scams carried out during the Congress tenure. The new generation should be told about their scams, including the Commonwealth Games among many others, and those who went to jail,” Naik said.
The CM also used the occasion to attack the Congress-led Goy Rakhonn Yatra, alleging that the rally had brought in large numbers of people from outside Goa while leaving Goans out.
“Misleading or fake Rakhonn Yatras are carried out, but bringing the genuine work done to the people is your (news media) responsibility... The Rakhonn Yatra has many outsiders who were brought in in large numbers,” he said.
He further compared the rally with the BJP’s grassroots work, saying party workers in Goa had been working day and night for the organisation and the State.
Earlier, Sawant inaugurated the BJP Goa’s e-library as part of Antyodaya Diwas, marking the birth anniversary of Deendayal Upadhyay.
The library is connected to the BJP’s Central Library and will provide access to material on Central government schemes, policies, governance reforms and new laws, as well as party publications including Kamal Sandesh.
Sawant said the facility will be free for BJP workers and will also be open to citizens, scholars, researchers and journalists with prior permission from the BJP State President or Office Secretary.
“The library will help MLAs and MPs access material on government policies and reforms, and also give students and researchers an additional resource for their studies,” he said.
