PANJIM: The State Election Commission (SEC) on Saturday notified the poll schedule for 186 panchayats, bringing into force the Model Code of Conduct within these areas. Even as the SEC has given the green signal to continue with the ongoing monsoon session of the State Legislative Assembly, its business will be monitored thoroughly to ensure there is no code violation. The monsoon session ends on July 22.
Over 8.27 lakh voters in the State will exercise their franchise to elect new panchayat bodies across 186 villages on August 10. The results will be declared on August 12.
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Addressing the media on Saturday,State Election Commissioner WV Ramanamurthy said that the code of conduct is applicable only to the village panchayat areas where elections are set to be held. The municipal areas, the Corporation of the city of Panaji and five panchayats- Taleigao, Harvalem, Alorana, Casarvarnem and Chandel are exempt from the code.
“We will monitor the proceedings of the State Assembly to ensure that there is no conflict of interest and code violations,” he said ruling out that the State Legislature would require SEC permission to conduct its business.
The five-year term of the elected members of these 186 panchayats ended on June 18. The election process was delayed on account of the triple-test mandate laid down by the Supreme Court for OBC reservation.
Ramanamurthy said that the government wanted to follow the triple-test conditions laid down by the government while conducting the polls. He said that the ward reservation for other backward classes (OBC) is done based on the report submitted by the OBC Commission.
The SEC has given 20.10 per cent seat reservation to OBC, while another 12.32 per cent is reserved for Schedule Tribes and 1.37 per cent for schedule castes.
The elections will be held for 1,528 wards across 1,566 polling booths, which are placed in 1,049 locations. North Goa, comprising 97panchayatshas 783 wards, whereas in the Southern district, there are 745 wards in 89 panchayats.
The voting will take place through ballot papers. The indelible ink mark will be put on the left forefinger of every voter. The Commissioner said that the SEC has fixed a Rs 40,000 expenditure limit per candidate.
