This announcement brings relief across the State, as in the midst of the battle against Coronavirus and the advisories to maintain social distancing and work from home, the holding of the elections were fraught with the possibility of this turning into a major focal point as thousands would queue up to cast their votes on that day. Strangely, the State Election Commission (SEC) had remained unmoved by the demands for postponement, and it took the direction of the High Court of Bombay at Goa to the State Election Commission to reconsider whether in the current circumstances the polls could have been held or not for the SEC to act.
Significantly, the High Court asked the SEC to take a decision independently on this, without consulting the government. This assumes importance, as on the previous night, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an address to the nation had called for a ‘janta curfew’ on Sunday (the day the polls were scheduled), it had placed a large question mark on the ZP polls and there was speculation that the elections to the district bodies would be postponed. But the big late-night surprise was that the polls were rescheduled to just two days later – March 24 – and this was announced by the Chief Minister’s Office. Following a video conference that the PM had with State CMs, Goa decided to postpone the polls and also the school board exams.
The apparently adamant stand that had earlier been taken on not shifting the polling date raises a number of questions. It is pertinent to note that there had even been demands to cancel the elections and not just postpone them, even as the State had entered into a partial shutdown to prevent any COVID-19 cases in Goa. Just how did the Commission and the government expect to carry on with the polling and counting exercise when there is urgent and irrefutable need for social distancing to avoid the threat of the virus spreading? Was it such a difficult decision to be taken, that the court had to step in and direct that the date be reviewed?
In the light of this, one does have to wonder on the effectiveness of all the advisories released by the Central and State governments regarding measures to stem the spread of the virus, if they are not heeded by bodies like the SEC? While the government of India released a series of recommendations on this, and so did the State of Goa, the COVID-19 number of patients in the country continues to increase, and that is what needs to be stopped, but the SEC in Goa had remained unmoved, until the court stepped in after a petition was filed seeking the postponement of the polls.
For that matter, just how important are these ZP elections given the limited role that the bodies play and the paltry finances that are at their disposal? In the past weeks, the polls have led to a rise interest – political interest – as the elections are being held on party lines. They are but a political litmus test of the government’s popularity, and the results would possibly tell the government where it needs to change directions before the Assembly polls that are due two years hence. Other than this, the role of the district bodies once they are in place is limited to meetings, and development works in villages that include bus shelters, toilets and the like, where each project undertaken is valued at under Rs 5 lakh. In the light of this, there can be no doubt that indefinitely postponing the polls makes perfect sense.
