PANAJI
The issue of Panchayat elections in the State and there’s an air of confusion on the stand Goa government takes regarding the postponement of these polls or conducting them with or without OBC reservations. The leader of the opposition and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, while commenting on the Panchayat elections stated, “We have made our stand very clear and the stand is that the Goa Assembly had given reservation of 27% for the OBC community, and this is Parliament law, which has been passed in the Loksabha. The issue is whether the OBC Commission has found out the number of OBCs in the Municipal and Panchayat wards.”
Lobo added, “There has to be a commissioner along with his team to find out these figures. Now whatever data they have is that which the BLO, mamlatdar, talathi, secretary etc have written and sent to them. That’s why the Supreme Court has come down heavily that it has to be done by the OBC Commission itself. I am of the opinion that let the OBC Commission do the job.”
Regarding the date of the Panchayat election, Lobo commented that it is with the State government to finalise whether it is going ahead without the reservation or with the reservation. “If it is with the reservation, the elections can be postponed by three months,” said Lobo.
