PANJIM: Admitting that the current style of politics has forced voters to opt for a caste and religion based election system, State Election Commissioner Dr M Modassir on Sunday urged young voters not to fall prey to such politics but rather vote for democracy.
“Today the system is such that people vote for the candidate of their caste and religion. This is a common phenomenon. But I want today’s voters not to fall prey to such a system. Grow above all this and vote for democracy,” Modassair told the crowd, many of which were new enrolled voters, present for the National Voters’ Day function.
“It’s now time to contribute to bring in a change rather than blame the system alone,” he added.
Modassair was the Guest of Honour for the function that had Goa Governor Mridula Sinha as the Chief Guest.
Modassir lamented that it is an unfortunate trend that the voter turnout in urban areas is very low compared to the rural areas. “The so-called educated and elite class people, who complain of government failures and corruption, always distance themselves from the election process. On the other hand the people in the rural areas are coming out in large numbers to vote. There is great awareness amongst these people,” he said.
He said that for the past few years the election system has become violence free, considering that the elections in the past have witnessed deaths of hundreds of people.
National Voters Day was organized by the North Goa District Collector and North Goa District Election Officer to create awareness among the citizens on the importance of the voting system in democracy. Some 20,000 new voters have enrolled themselves with the Election Commission.
Deputy Collector Shabaji Shetye administered the National Voters’ Day Pledge to the people present for the function. Collector North Nila Mohanan, Joint Chief Electoral Officer Narayan Navti, election officers, BDOs, faculties of various colleges and students from various colleges were present.
