Police stopped a protest march by the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) to the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) at Altinho on Tuesday, detaining several party leaders at Azad Maidan.
The demonstration was held in solidarity with the detention of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and several INDIA Bloc MPs in New Delhi on Monday, after they marched from Parliament to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to protest alleged electoral malpractices in Bihar.
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GPCC president Amit Patkar, Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao and Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa, along with other office-bearers and workers, were detained while marching to the Election Office, demanding that the ECI “act impartially” and stop aiding ‘Vote Chori’.
The Congress accused authorities of bias in the ongoing electoral rolls revision in Goa as well. “The BJP government’s actions are a blatant misuse of power and a direct threat to India’s democracy. Silencing the Opposition when the Constitution is under attack is unacceptable,” the party charged.
Patkar alleged widespread electoral roll manipulations in multiple constituencies. “We found names of bogus voters enrolled in a house with number 0 in Sanguem, over 15 voters in a house numbered 994 in Velim, more than 80 bogus voters in Quepem and 26 bogus voters in Santa Cruz,” he said. “Our fight to save and protect people’s rights, democracy and the Constitution will continue.”
He also noted that the State had no CEO for the past two months until the appointment of Sanjay Goel, IAS, was announced on Monday.
Yuri accused the Election Commission of losing independence. “The ECI has murdered transparency and is working as a ‘shakha’ of the BJP. Instead of clarifying matters, it issues statements at the behest of the BJP. It’s a fall from independent constitutional authority to a government department. The ECI is losing the trust of the people,” he said.
While supporting the need for cleaning up the rolls, Yuri said, “The greatest worry is the independence of the ECI.” He pointed to the deletion of 65 lakh voters in Bihar. “Without transparency and records, this is voter theft – Matadar Chori. The issue today is not just Goa’s electoral rolls, but also the CEO office misusing its social media handles to speak for the ruling party.”
He urged all parties to unite against ‘Matadar Chori’. “This is the right of citizens. It is an issue of a free and independent ECI,” Yuri added.
