Team Herald
SANGUEM: The residents of Bamonsai (Ward No 1) of Sanguem Municipal Council (SMC), which is reserved for ST candidates, on Saturday threatened to boycott the upcoming civic elections if the government fails to change the reservation policy.
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A day after the government announced the reservation of wards for the municipal elections, the voters led by aspiring candidate Jervis Fernandes criticised the reservation policy particularly for Ward No 1 which is reserved for ST candidates.
“In the last municipal elections, Ward No 7 was reserved for ST candidates and serial wise, Ward No 8 should have been reserved for ST. If Ward No 7 does not have ST voters then the following ward should have been reserved for STs. But in the instant case, reserving Ward No 1 directly after Ward no 7 is something uncalled for,” Fernandes claimed.
Ward No 1 is presently represented by former chairperson of SMC Romualdo Fernandes, who is also irked with the reservation of his ward for ST candidates.
Fernandes claimed that there are hardly around 10 to 12 ST voters in his ward and reserving the ward for ST candidates literally denies the voters from general category from contesting the municipal elections.
Fernandes charged the government for selectively reserving certain wards to seek political revenge.
Meanwhile, Romualdo Fernandes threatened to approach the appropriate legal forum if the authorities fail to revert the decision on the reserving Ward No 1 for ST candidates.
