Panchayat elections in the state will be held on June 25, which incidentally falls one day after the ‘traditional’ São João festivities in Goa. It effectively means that São João will be a dry day in the State.
Liquor-less Goa as it goes to Panchayat polls on June 25, a day after the traditional revelry
the goan I network
PANAJI
Addressing media persons, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said the fact that several staff will be on leave during the month of May as well as the fact that the state is recovering from the assembly elections played on the minds of the government while taking a decision to shift the panchayat elections to June.
The panchayat elections will be conducted by the State Election Commission and were earlier scheduled to be held in the month of May.
Many staff have applied for leave during the months of April and May because they were busy with Assembly election duty during the earlier months as well as the fact that school children have holidays during these months.
“Almost 10% of the state’s population will be out of the state,” Parrikar said trying to guesstimate figures.
However, what probably hasn’t crossed the Chief Minister’s mind is that the date falls one day after São João a day often associated with revelry among the state’s Catholic population.
When pointed out, Parrikar sought to defend his decision saying: “Dry day only bans the sale of liquor, not the consumption of liquor.”
Salcete stunned
MARGAO: Sao Joao revelers may be left high and dry this year. The reason: The festival, which is celebrated every year on June 24, falls on a dry day this year on account of the Panchayat elections scheduled on June 25.
No sooner news of the announcement of the Panchayat polls spread on Wednesday, many people around Salcete’s countryside called up the media to inform that Sao Joao festival may go dry this year since the festival falls on a dry day.
Though the Panchayat election is scheduled to be held on June 24, the day prior to the election will be declared a dry day in all the Panchayat areas of the state.
