The warning now by Goa’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of action against those influencing postal ballots has come too little too late. A cosmetic eyewash that will fool none. We have seen that the recently conducted elections were far from free and fair. During the election campaign the BJP was selectively allowed to breach all the laid down norms. On election eve, envelopes of cash were distributed door- to-door across Goa while the flying squads chose to look the other way.
The onus for this collapse of the election machinery is on the Chief Electoral Officer who has managed to hang on in Goa for six long years. This very CEO had conducted the 2017 assembly elections amidst allegations of being very partisan. In a democracy free and fair elections are fundamental, as otherwise it is an exercise in futility. Politicians in power must not manipulate and dictate terms to officials whose mandate is to ensure free and fair polls. Election officials should bear in mind those words of the former Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano “Organizing free and fair elections is more important than the result itself”.
