PANJIM: Besides the names of all four Panjim by-poll candidates starting with the letter ‘S’, there is a more substantive coincidence – none of them have any criminal record, as confirmed by the nationally recognized election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms.
In another revelation, three candidates – BJP’s Siddharth Kuncalienkar, Congress’ Surendra Furtado and Independent Samir Kelekar are crorepatis. Interestingly, Furtado is the richest with his assets calculated at over Rs 7.94 crore, followed by Kuncalienkar who has approximately Rs 3.41 crore worth assets and Kelekar has Rs 1.44 crore worth assets. The fourth candidate Sadanand Vaigankar, an Independent, has assets worth over Rs 90 lakh.
After accessing the affidavits submitted by the respective candidates to the Returning Officer, ADR also discovered that Furtado’s educational qualifications are shown as 12th pass, while Kelekar is a doctorate in Information Technology from Columbia University, Kuncalienkar is a Bachelor in Electronics from Goa Engineering College Farmagudi and Sadanand is an Arts graduate and LLB.
“A positive sign in the entire scrutiny is that no candidate has any criminal case against them,” ADR coordinator Bhaskar Assoldekar told a press briefing on Tuesday, ahead of the Panjim by-poll scheduled on Friday.
“All the candidates are educated but Furtado is the least educated, who mentioned about doing his first year BA. But there is no confirmation whether he completed. Nevertheless, we are sure that he has passed 12th.”
Claiming that being a crorepati is no longer a benchmark, the ADR will constitute a separate section for candidates owning properties worth Rs 10 crore and above. In the same breath, Assoldekar suggested that those providing false details whether about education or assets should be disqualified from contesting elections.
In another mission to ascertain the performance of all the 40 MLAs, the Election Commission of India-recognized NGO has decided to approach the Goa Assembly for details about developmental works carried out by MLAs in their respective constituency.
“We are close to the ruling coalition completing three years in office. We would seek details about funds utilized for development works, how many MLAs have visited respective sarpanchas in their constituency, their attendance during the Assembly session and the number of questions asked,” he said, adding that a former MLA had attended just three sessions between 2007 and 2012.
He has demanded that all these details be made available online as in Jharkhand, Arunchal Pradesh and Delhi.
