Team Herald
PANJIM/PONDA: The State Election Commission (SEC) has completed the process of delimitation and reservation of wards of Ponda Municipal Council and Sakhalim Municipal Council, where general elections are scheduled in May this year.
For 15-member Ponda municipal council, five wards i.e. 3, 8, 10, 11 and 15 have been reserved for women candidates while, wards 5 and 10 are reserved for candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Similarly in Sakhalim municipal council, wards 2, 6, 11 and 12 are reserved for women candidates and wards 10 and 11 are reserved for OBC candidates.
In Sakhalim, the total number of wards have been reduced from 13 to 12 even as the current Chairperson Rajesh Sawal and former sarpanch of erstwhile village panchayat Pravin Blaggan have already approached the High Court of Bombay at Goa challenging the process of redrawing of wards and uneven distribution of voters in wards.
The High Court has issued notices to the State government, State Election Commission (SEC), Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA), Bicholim Mamlatdar and the Sakhalim chief officer and the matter is likely to come up for hearing this week.
The Other Backwards Classes (OBC) leaders have cried foul over the redrawing of wards for Ponda municipal council and Sakhalim municipal council and have demanded reservation of more wards for the communities based on 27 per cent population.
OBC communities are unhappy over reducing OBC reservation from four wards to two wards for Ponda municipality and from three to two wards for Sakhalim municipality.
Gomantak Bhandari Samaj President Ashok Naik said that the State Election Commission (SEC) has done injustice to OBC communities by reserving only two wards each for Ponda and Sakhalim Municipal Councils. He said if this has occurred by mistake, then it should be rectified immediately and that four wards be reserved for OBC communities in Ponda and three wards in Sakhalim Municipal Council.
Naik demanded to know the criteria adopted by the SEC while reserving wards for OBC communities and have urged the Commission to reserve wards based on 27 per cent OBC population. Reducing the number wards when OBC population had increased in the State is most unfair, he said.
The Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh Goa Convenor Madhu Naik said that the SEC should review its decision of reserving wards for OBC communities and reserve wards based on 27 per cent OBC population.
