Tivim Comunidade panel elected unopposed
Opposition panel vows to challenge process in court
MAPUSA
A new managing committee to the Tivim Comunidade was declared elected unopposed after the objection raised by the opposition group was dismissed by Presiding Officer Kirtikumar Bandodkar on Sunday.
But the opposition group vowed to knock on the doors of the court to challenge the election.
Raimundo Ferrao was elected as president and Savio Pereira as attorney, while Joselan Pereira was elected as treasurer in the new Tivim Comunidade committee. The election, marred with allegations and counter allegations, was held under tight police protection and finally ended peacefully.
Leo Pereira belonging to one group said the election was held in most unfair manner with lot of malpractices and favouritism. He said the identity cards were distributed to 'Goankars' in the hall on the day of the election, which was completely wrong.
“ID cards were distributed today in the hall on the day of the election. When a Goankar from Goa approached the outgoing committee for ID card he was refused, but more than 200 ID cards were distributed to 'Gaonkars' from outside Goa,” said Leo Pereira while speaking to The Goan.
Another Goankar from Tivim called the election a sham and wanted the election to be cancelled.
“This is a complete unfair election. ID cards have been forged. We don’t know half the people present in the hall,” said Schubert Pereira, a Goankar from Tivim apparently referring to a large group of people who came from Kanapur and Belagavi.
Raimundo Ferrao dismissed the allegations of the opposite group and said all due process was followed either by way of issuing the ID cards or the conduct of the election process.
“We have issued ID cards whose names figure in the 'Matricula dos Jonoeiros da Comunidade.' There’s no way we are forging or duplicating the names. The opposition knows nothing about the technicalities,” Ferrao hit back.
He further said there was no need of any official ID card issued by the Tivim Comunidade to a Gaonkar.
“Any Goankar whose name figures in the 'Matricula…' can vote by proving his identity by showing any official ID card like the voter’s card or Aadhar card, etc,” Ferrao said.
A group of 81 people walked out of the hall after their objection was dismissed by the presiding officer but before leaving Leo Pereira told The Goan that he will challenge the election process legally.
The election process that started at 10.35 am at the St Christopher hall, Tivim, ended at around 3.30 pm, the presiding officer informed.
