MARGAO
Charging that the government has no intention to hold the upcoming municipal polls in a free and fair manner, Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai on Tuesday warned that the party would knock on the doors of the Supreme Court if the civic polls are held in violation of the 2021 judgement.
Sardesai pointed out that Goa Forward-backed Margao municipal councillor Ninisha Faleiro has already filed a petition in the High Court, seeking clarity on the ongoing ward delimitation exercise, reservation of seats and plans to conduct the polls in consultation with the State government.
He pointed to the 2021 Supreme Court ruling wherein the apex court stressed the autonomy of the State Election Commission. He said the Supreme Court had observed that the SEC cannot be the "caged parrot of the government".
Addressing the media, the Goa Forward party chief said he is raising these issues since around 4,500 voters from the Fatorda constituency have been deleted from the electoral rolls post-SIR process.
“The decrease in voters has thrown up a host of questions “ whether the voters belonging to the ST, SC and OBC have gone down; whether the government has compiled any data on this count; and how the decrease in voters affects the seat reservation,” he said.
He added, “Through some sources, we have come to know that the SEC plans to hold the polls on May 20. But, as per the High Court guidelines, the SEC is mandated to unveil the ward reservation two weeks before the election date. If we go by the HC judgement, the civic polls will be scheduled in mid-June, considering this fact. Hence, we are seeking clarity from the government and the SEC on this crucial aspect.”
Sardesai also took strong objection to the SEC’s decision to hold the upcoming civic polls in consultation with the State government.
“The SC in 2021 had called for the autonomy of the SEC. The apex court had made it clear that the SEC cannot be the caged parrot of the government. We are ready to move the Supreme Court with a contempt petition against the State Election Commission,” he said.
Claiming that the government is maintaining a stoic silence on demands seeking clarity on the upcoming polls, Sardesai said that neither Urban Development Minister Vishwajit Rane nor the SEC have shed light on the criteria that would be adopted to reserve the seats and whether the government has updated the data post-SIR.
Raising apprehensions that the government has "hatched a conspiracy to throw all guidelines to the winds", Sardesai said that cut-outs of prospective ruling party candidates have come up in certain wards of the Fatorda municipal area even before the finalisation of the ward delimitation exercise and ward reservation.
“This only goes to show that the ruling party has already decided to reserve certain wards, as evident from the banners and cut-outs put up by prospective candidates,” he added.
