Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjay Goel, IAS, has expressed uncertainty over the feasibility of holding the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections on December 13, revealing that his office had earlier formally urged the State government to defer the polls until the completion of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Addressing the media after an all-party meeting on the SIR process, Goel stated that the final electoral rolls are scheduled to be published only on February 7, 2026, indicating that conducting elections before that date may lead to discrepancies in voter data. “We had advised the government to consider postponing the elections to ensure updated rolls are used,” Goel said.
Although the government has announced December 13 as the tentative polling date, the official notification outlining the detailed election schedule is yet to be released.
Goel’s statement comes amid rising objections from several political parties. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) delegation, comprising national general secretary Pankaj Gupta, Goa in-charge and Delhi minister Atishi, and Goa unit president Amit Palekar, had recently met the Election Commission of India in New Delhi to submit a memorandum opposing the overlap between the ongoing roll revision and the ZP election process.
The Congress has also raised similar concerns in multiple media briefings, calling for fair and transparent elections based on updated rolls.
With the final voter lists due only in February and the State CEO’s formal recommendation on record, all eyes are now on the State government and State Election Commissioner Menino D’Souza to see whether the ZP election schedule will proceed as planned or be deferred in line with the CEO’s advice.
