Team Herald
MARGAO: Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai has accused the BJP government of manipulating the reservation procedure to give former Fatorda MLA Damu Naik and the party a better chance of winning the municipal elections.
Sardesai has also criticized Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza for going back on his promises made in the Assembly and the Director of Municipal Administration Elvis Gomes for being a puppet of the BJP government.
Indirectly blaming Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for influencing the decision of reservations, Sardesai stated that it was a violation as the reservations had been announced after the election dates had been notified.
“Issuing the notification a day before the code of conduct comes into force was done only to circumvent judicial challenges to several glaring discrepancies and illegalities that the reservation process has committed. The reservation notification is nothing but a wholesale cheating exercise meant to benefit select BJP cadres,” said Sardesai.
He demanded that the delimitation and reservation be put in public domain by sharing the electoral roll and inviting objections and that the elections be postponed by a month till the matter was resolved.
“Ward 11, Pajifond, has escaped women’s reservation for the last 30 years. The DMA and deputy CM stated on record that the ward would be reserved for women, but nothing has been done,” said Sardesai.
He recalled how he had informed the DMA and Deputy CM that one ward has two MLAs and a councillor, which is not acceptable. He clarified that he is not against reservation, but the manipulation of the rolls. He also questioned why activist Auda Viegas was not protesting for women’s reservation for Pajifond.
“Several wards that have been renumbered in the new delimitation continue to be reserved as against the normal practice of not repeating reservations,” said Sardesai, adding, “Although the ruling party believes, as has been indicated by one of its biggest leaders, that ‘Swachh Bharat’ is not about cleanliness, but about a clean sweep for its cadres in the polls by hook or by crook. The people will teach the ruling party a lesson for undermining democracy.”
