MARGAO
The Shadow Council for Margao on Sunday criticised the politicians taking credit for their success in the legal battle against the reservations, which eventually ended in the postponement of the elections to five municipal councils.
Addressing the media, SCM convener Savio Coutinho posed a pointed question, seeking clarification whether the legal battle was genuinely in the interest of the deprived categories or if the legal battle was exclusively in their selfish interests.
He lamented that on one hand the leaders portrayed themselves as saviours of the women/OBC/ST candidates but after the victory in the legal battle against the ward reservations, they are found to be planting candidates either belonging to other wards or their kith and kin.
“The objective of the law relating to the reservation is for the weaker sections of society to benefit from it. There is also another provision requiring the reservations to be allotted by “rotation”, stated Adv Seoula Vas candidate of SCM.
“The reasoning behind reserving wards by rotation is so that the voters of each ward gets the benefit of reservation. However what we are seeing is, political parties instead of selecting candidates from the ward itself and giving opportunity, seem to be in mistrust of the people and instead are rotating their panel in these wards. So it has become a situation, not of rotation of reservation but subverting the spirit of the law by rotation of candidates, charged Adv Vas.
Coutinho pointed out that the cancellation of the election process makes absolutely no difference to these parties and their candidates, as they have tons of money to extravagantly spend during the elections.
“Today is the 21st of March and all the candidates who toiled so much, campaigning in their respective wards, would have been done with the elections. It is indeed a pity that the voters are considered to be foolish by these people, who have only their self-interest as a priority at all times”, Coutinho said, while making an appeal to all the candidates and the constituents to unite and reject the panel’s nominated by the political parties responsible for this political Circus
The press briefing was attended by Poma Kerkar, Vlem Fernandes, Adv. Snehal Onskar, Edward Lourenco, Deepak Kerkar, Iftiyaz Sayed and Rajesh Kerkar.
