Team Goemkarponn
CANACONA: Canacona Congress leader and former party candidate Janardhan Bhandari has urged the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) and Deputy Collector of Canacona to refrain from biased deletion of voters’ names and to safeguard the voting rights of legitimate electors in Goa.
Bhandari submitted a detailed memorandum to the ERO/Dy Collector and other senior authorities, highlighting what he termed as deliberate and selective attempts to delete voters’ names, particularly from the minority community, during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Pointing out multiple difficulties faced by Goan voters, Bhandari said even educated citizens are struggling to understand the enumeration forms. He noted that notices have reportedly been issued to prominent personalities, including a Nobel Prize–winning economist, a former Navy Chief, a South Goa Member of Parliament, and several other well-known individuals, exposing serious flaws in the process. He also flagged the issue of notices being served at the last minute, making it nearly impossible for electors to appear personally for hearings.
Bhandari highlighted the specific problems faced by married women, stating that the ongoing SIR is relying on mapping carried out in 2002. Instead of using documents already available with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Goa, the burden has been unfairly shifted onto electors to collect and submit fresh documentation to prove their eligibility.
Raising concerns specific to Canacona taluka, Bhandari said voters who had participated in the recently held Zilla Parishad elections have also received notices, while names of senior citizens are being deleted on the grounds that they are “untraceable”. “How can voters who have been exercising their franchise for decades suddenly be subjected to such scrutiny and deletion? What is the fault of voters if the Election Commission failed to conduct SIR between 2002 and 2025?” he questioned.
Terming the issue serious, Bhandari alleged that Form-7 is being selectively misused by vested interests to delete the names of voters who do not support them. He claimed that in Canacona constituency alone, Form-7 applications have been filed in bulk against seafarers, patients undergoing treatment outside the State, youth working in Gulf countries, and others, falsely alleging that they have permanently shifted or surrendered Indian citizenship. According to him, this practice is particularly targeted at the minority Catholic community.
Bhandari strongly demanded that the ongoing SIR process should not be used as a tool to delete the names of unsuspecting voters, but must be conducted in a free, fair, and transparent manner to protect “the voting rights of every citizen”.
Janardhan Bhandari is the former Congress candidate from the Canacona Assembly constituency.
