Free and fair elections will continue to be a far cry unless the Election Commission is able to eradicate with an iron hand the distribution of cash to buy votes. In the elections held on Valentine’s Day we saw this menace all over. When the votes are counted on March 10, we will know whether the voters of Panaji Constituency fell in love with the overflowing currency.
To target the 3,800 odd votes in Ribandar the Robin Hood kept the flow of cash uninterrupted till the very last vote was cast. Young girls were engaged to distribute cash envelopes door to door. The family of a police inspector and the wife of a constable were also all part of this specially set up ATM. A senior office bearer of our church was also working overtime in this sinful exercise. On the eve of polling a whopping 50 lakhs were allegedly splashed to entice a few hundred votes at the tail end of our constituency in Sao Pedro.
We however need to applaud those families that had the courage to drive away from their doorstep those distributors of cash for votes.
