PANAJI: The Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday alleged that the State Election Commission (SEC) was silent and that the State government was playing the role of the SEC in holding the upcoming Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections.
Speaking to reporters, GFP general secretary Mohandas Lolienkar said that the State government was deciding the entire ZP elections from redrawing of constituencies to reservation of seats. This is for the first time the SEC was silent and the BJP government was performing the role of the SEC. The State Election Commissioner was for namesake and he was not interested in working, he charged.
GFP spokesman Durgadas Kamat alleged that the Sawant government was dictating the terms to the SEC. The government wants to reserve ZP seats to favour candidates of their choice, he said.
"Nobody knows about the reservation of ZP constituencies." Elvis Gomes, AAP state convenor
On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) charged that the State Election Commission (SEC) for giving advantage to the ruling BJP by not forcing the declaration of reservation of seats for the forthcoming Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections in the State.
AAP State convenor Elvis Gomes said that the nobody knows about the reservation of ZP constituencies.
State Election Commission is a constitutional body but it had lost its spine and was taking instructions from the BJP government thus compromising on the fairness of the election process.
“State Election Commission headed by a retired bureaucrat is accustomed to waiting endlessly for instructions from his political bosses. He should have by now forced the government to notify reservations of ZP seats. But in Goa such misdemeanours are not punishable. Hence no one cares”, said Gomes.