NT Reporter
Panaji
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Amit Patkar said
that the cancellation of
the Ponda by-election exposes a deeply troubling ‘nexus’ between the BJP and the Election Commission of India.
“When the BJP realised that the people of Ponda had made up their mind to vote for change and that Congress was set to win, they chose to run away from the people instead of facing them. It is no coincidence that the very party fearing defeat is the one that moved the petition for cancellation,” Patkar said.
He said that the issue goes beyond one election. “It is about the systematic subversion of democracy. Institutions meant to protect the people’s mandate are being misused to serve political interests,” he said.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao said that this is a betrayal of democracy.
“We expected that if the court had found merit, the candidates contesting the election should have got notice. When the petition was filed, I feel that the court should have even seen who are likely to be affected by the order. The minimum thing was that the petitioner should have been directed to make us a party and we should have been heard, and thereafter a decision could have been passed,” said Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira said.
“I believe that this is a very serious flaw in not making us a party,” he said.
AICC in-charge Goa Manikrao Thakare said that the Chief Minister has failed to address key issues. “Whether it is law and order, environment or unemployment, the government has failed in all these areas. That is why they know that they are losing this election,” he said. Senior Congress leader Girish Chodankar said that the election was declared five months after the death of MLA Ravi Naik. “If they had announced this election three months earlier, they would not have got the opportunity to challenge this petition,” he said.
He alleged that a BJP sympathiser had filed the petition and claimed that the Advocate General supported the petitioner.
