Goa: Misgovernance of BJP exposed by high court order, says Congress

PANAJI: State Congress president Amit Patkar on Wednesday said that Tuesday’s order of the high court of Bombay at Goa with regards to the panchayat polls has “exposed how the BJP-led government has failed the OBC community of Goa”.
“The government first said that panchayat elections were deferred as OBC reservation was not done but later said it wanted elections deferred due to the monsoon. It is a sad state of affairs,” Patkar said.
The HC judgement shows how the government has failed in governance, he said.
A year ago, in the petition filed by Vikash Gawli, the HC had ordered that the OBC reservation for panchayat polls be done by following the triple test criteria, Patkar said. “For a year the government has not done anything to complete the reservation process.”
On June 18, the term of 186 panchayats ended. Patkar said it was surprising that the government sought postponement of the polls citing rains even as the state election commission had previously suggested four different schedules for holding the elections. “In 2017, the panchayat elections were held on June 11. Didn’t it rain in June then?”
The latest, Patkar said, is the government wanting to defer polls by citing the monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly, which is scheduled to start the next month. “ Weren’t you aware last week when the affidavit was filed that the monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly session begins next month?”
The state Congress president also alleged that the panchayats minister had some vested interest in deferring the polls and appointing administrators of his choice.
A Congress functionary Srinivas Khalap said all the outgoing panchayat members should understand that the government has tried to kill their rights, and that the HC’s Tuesday order has confirmed it.
“People should bear this in mind when they cast their vote next,” Khalap said.
Party functionary Viriato Fernandes said that what the government has done with regards to the panchayat polls is a classic case of what the ruling class does. “The BJP government is only here to suppress the voices of the downtrodden,” he said.