MARGAO
Terming the Supreme Court verdict as a landmark judgment, Goa Forward Chief Vijai Sardesai on Friday demanded that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant quit public life and demanded the immediate removal of State Election Commissioner Chokka Ram Garg from office.
He also sent a message loud and clear that the Goa Forward is ready to take on the ruling party in the ensuing elections, reminding the BJP that the Judiciary is one of the strong pillars of democracy.
Addressing the media along the petitioners Rumaldo Fernandes and Fausiya Sheikh and party vice-president Durgadas Kamat after the Supreme Court pronounced its order, Sardesai demanded that the Chief Minister, who commented that democracy is restored after the Supreme Court had stayed the High Court order on reservations, should quit public life. “The Court has come down heavily on the government for making a mockery of democracy. Today I am not demanding the Chief Minister’s resignation, but he should quit public life after the Apex Court verdict”, he said.
Saying that there ought to be no place for puppets in the bureaucracy, more so in an independent institution such as the State Election Commission, Sardesdai demanded the immediate removal of the SEC Chokka Ram Garg.
Saying that the Supreme Court is a clear direction to the Goa government to appoint a neutral umpire to head the SEC, he warned that the Goa Forward will knock the doors of the Judiciary again in the event the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA) on the dictates of the government makes a mockery of the democratic process.
He said the Goa Forward and the Opposition will continue to take the BJP head on in the ensuing polls, saying the party would coordinate with other opposition parties to keep the ruling party at bay.
When his attention was drawn to the comments of BJP leaders that the party will go to the people’s court irrespective of the Court orders, Sardesai said the Goa Forward is ready to take the bull by the horn at least in Fatorda. “The BJP should know that the judiciary is the biggest pillar of democracy. But, I would like to the ruling party that the opposition is not running away from the battle”, he added.
