Team Herald
VASCO: Panchayats Minister Mauvin Godinho on Monday said that the government is not all interested in delaying the holding of the panchayat election but would wait for the Supreme Court verdict and decide accordingly.
Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of a programme at INS Hansa, Vasco, Godinho said that since panchayat elections are not fought on party lines there was no reason for the government to delay them as alleged by the opposition.
He said that the government had sought some time to hold elections in view of the Supreme Court judgment asking States to have a triple test for reservation of wards for OBC communities. “But after the High Court of Bombay at Goa directed the government to complete the election process within 45 days, the government had got all its officers on duty to comply with the directives after collecting Census and matching it with OBC data. This data was supposed to be sent to the State Election Commission (SEC) within a week but the latter notified reservation of wards for ST, SC and women candidates before receiving details of OBC wards”, he said.
Godinho said that the government had now filed a special leave petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court seeking a month’s time or about three weeks to hold panchayat polls. “We will now wait for the Supreme Court decision and decide accordingly,” he said.
Earlier, the Panchayats Minister planted a sapling at the INS Hansa in the presence of Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane, FOGA Rear Admiral Vikram Menon and other Naval officers.
