MARGAO
As the “Vote Chori” issue hots up in Goa, Margao Congress Block Convener Savio Coutinho has thrown down the gauntlet at the Election Commission in Goa over gross manipulation in electoral rolls in Margao.
Coutinho has claimed that Part No. 15 of 31 Margao Constituency exclusively consists of an area known as Azad Nagar, located along the Margao Konkan Railway Station road.
“This area admeasures not more than 3,500 sq. m, and has a maximum of 120 to 150 houses. However, on going through the electoral roll of Part No. 15, Margao Constituency, one finds names recorded with over 280 house numbers, with a total number of 868 voters. The question here is how and from where 280 houses, with the house numbers as registered in the electoral rolls, surface, and who has issued these house numbers,” he said.
That’s not all. Coutinho has challenged the Election Commission to verify if there is sufficient space for 868 people to even stand in this area called Azad Nagar, leaving aside the non-voters and minors residing there. “This area called Azad Nagar is bounded by a wall on three sides, and the railway station main road on one side. This confirms the fact that there is no scope for the number of houses to increase in the manner in which the number of voters has been increasing here.”
Coutinho said, “We will appreciate if the Election Commission gives a justifiable explanation with regard to how the Azad Nagar area can hold 868 voters, while our verification continues for other areas in Margao.”
