It is shocking to note that despite Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao appealing to the Catholics to forgo their pilgrimage to Vailankanni to avoid missing out on voting in the Lok Sabha polls, hundreds of pilgrim reportedly boarded the weekly train to the Marine Shrine on the eve of polling day. These pilgrims justified their journey by explaining that they had booked their tickets prior to the announcements of the elections. However, given the significance of these elections, the pilgrims could have postponed the trip to sometime in the future. Alternatively the railways should have given an option by making the tickets booked one day prior to the elections valid for anytime in the future. One can embark on a pilgrimage at any time of the year but elections come once every five years. Irrespective of whichever party one is supporting, these pilgrims have missed a golden opportunity to make their vote count. Elections in Goa have often been closely contested. When hundreds of voters have not exercised their franchise, it could have a telling effect on the final results.
