Alleging that the State government is adopt ing delaying tactics to defer the municipal elections, four petitioners who ear lier approached the High Court stated that they will oppose the miscellaneous civil application filed by the Goa State Commission for Backward Classes. The application seeks a two month extension to com plete its empirical inquiry into the nature and impli cations of backwardness of the 11 municipal councils. The High Court of Bom bay at Goa has posted the matter for hearing on Sep tember 23.
Reacting to the miscella neous civil application, one of the petitioners and AIT MC national spokesperson Trajano D’Mello said the Commission’s request for additional time raises seri ous concerns, particularly when the Constitution pro vides for timely elections to local bodies. “The Goa State Commis sion for Backward Classes’ application seeking further time raises serious concerns at a time when the Consti tution mandates that elec tions to local bodies must be held within the prescribed period. Seeking repeated extensions risks turning an administrative exercise into a means of delaying the elec toral process,” Trajano said.
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He pointed out that during the December 2025 Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections, the Commission had submitted its reservation data to the State Election Commission (SEC) within just three days. The High Court subsequently up held the legality of the submission and permitted the ZP elections to proceed, he said. “The present attempt by the Goa State Commission for Backward Classes to seek more time therefore needs to be viewed in the context of the constitutional obligation to hold elections on time. Constitutional provisions cannot be defeated, diluted or circumvented through administrative delays.
The people’s right to timely elections must remain paramount,” Trajano said. He also questioned whether the delay was being under taken at the behest of those in power. “The question that naturally arises is whether such manoeuvring is being un dertaken at the behest of the powers that be, with the effect of subtly undermining the directions of the High Court and frustrating the constitutional mandate to hold elections within time. Such an approach would be deeply troubling and must not be allowed to become a precedent,” Trajano said. Another petitioner, Vallabh Prabhudessai of Quepem, said, “We will strongly contest the miscellaneous civil ap plication filed by the Goa State Commission for Backward Classes. It is a delaying tactic. In April, after the first phase of delimitation of municipal wards, the Commission was confident of completing the empirical inquiry and the SEC also wanted to complete the poll process by May 31, 2026.” Prabhudessai noted that the Commission had told the High Court on August 4, 2026, that it would complete the empirical inquiry within 45 days. “If the government had not promulgated the Ordinance, the SEC would have also completed the entire poll process by May 31. It is nothing but a tactic to delay the municipal elections,” he alleged. Vaishali Barde of Mapusa, another petitioner who had sought directions to the SEC to hold the municipal elections within the stipulated period, alleged that the government was attempting to defer the polls until after the 2027 As sembly elections. “We want the municipal elections to be held as per the High Court judgment dated August 25, 2026, and the en tire process to be completed by January 4, 2027. The BJP government is scared to face the municipal elections due to the reverses it has suffered in local body elections in other States,” she pointed out.
Shitesh More, another petitioner, echoed the concerns over the delay. “The government should hold the municipal elections as mandated by the Constitution. But the BJP government does not want to face the municipal elections. It is adopt ing every possible tactic, including the SIR exercise and what he termed ‘vote chori’, to win elections. The Consti tution mandates that municipal elections be held every five years,” More stated.
