PANAJI: The Goa Congress on Friday staged a protest outside the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) at Altinho, Panaji, demanding the arrest and resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The protest, held as part of the Congress’ nationwide agitation against the Election Commission, saw party leaders burn an effigy of the CEC and submit a memorandum addressed to the President of India and Goa Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Goel.
The Congress has alleged that the SIR exercise resulted in the deletion of around 1.27 lakh names from Goa’s electoral rolls and demanded that eligible voters be restored.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao said the Congress had repeatedly raised concerns over the SIR exercise and submitted memorandums with what he described as evidence of irregularities. “We have officially submitted a memorandum addressed to the Honorable President of India and also to the Chief Electoral Officer,” Alemao said.
He alleged that while around 1.27 lakh voters had been deleted, only 97 names were subsequently added, calling the exercise a “fraud” and demanding that voters, other than deceased electors, be immediately restored.
Alemao also alleged that the SIR exercise was carried out “at the behest of the BJP government in Goa and in Delhi” and demanded that Gyanesh Kumar be held accountable and resign. “The SIR exercise carried out is a fraud and voters must be immediately restored,” he said.
GPCC chief Girish Chodankar said the protest was part of the Congress’ national campaign against what the party alleged was a compromise of the transparency, independence and credibility of the Election Commission. “The credibility of the Election Commission of India has been compromised,” Chodankar said, demanding that Gyanesh Kumar be removed from office.
He said the Congress had raised questions over various aspects of the electoral roll exercise, including the handling of forms, and alleged that satisfactory answers had not been provided.
AICC Goa in-charge Manikrao Thakare alleged that the SIR exercise had affected voters’ constitutional right to vote and demanded that Gyanesh Kumar resign and face legal action. “Such a person should be arrested as soon as possible. He should resign,” Thakare said. He further alleged that repeated representations to the Election Commission had not resulted in corrective action.
Responding to the allegations, Goa Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Goel said the SIR process was conducted transparently and that political parties were involved at various stages. He said meetings were held with political parties at the CEO and district electoral officer levels, while ASD and logical discrepancy lists were displayed at polling stations. The final electoral roll was also shared with political parties. Goel said more than seven months had passed since the exercise was completed and that the appeals received had been disposed of.
On the controversy surrounding the 97 voters, Goel said house-to-house surveys were subsequently conducted through Booth Level Officers, and forms were collected from those who were available and willing. “If the remaining individuals are willing and available, we will collect their forms and add their names,” he said, adding that eligible voters would be able to exercise their franchise before the election.
Goel rejected the allegation of a mistake in the process, saying there were established mechanisms for rectification, including appeals and submission of Form 6. “There was no blunder, no error, nor was anyone’s permanent voting right taken away,” he said.
On the Congress’ claim that the CEO’s office sent eight emails in seven days seeking intervention, Goel said such communication was part of the normal process. “When such a massive exercise is underway, emails back and forth are routine for seeking clarifications, requesting support, issuing instructions from our side, or receiving directives from theirs,” he said.
