Goemkarponn desk
Panaji: Goencho Avaaz has hailed the landmark decision of the High Court stating that the government decision was ill-conceived, dubious and manipulative plan in deciding the reservations and delimitations of wards.
“This verdict is a clear and decisive slap in the face of the State Election Commission of Goa. It is now time for the State Election Commissioner to own his responsibility and resign, rather than further demean his office by obstinately sticking to the chair,” Goencho Avaaz said in a press release issued here.
It said that this in fact, is not the first time that the State Election Commission has acted in such a dubious and vested manner, compelling the people of Goa to lose faith in its objectivity and lending substance to the allegations that the Election Commission office was in fact, functioning as a willing tool of the State Government.
“It is extremely distressing that bureaucrats who are appointed to such important and supposedly autonomous positions, should have demeaned and diminished the standing of these statutory offices. It is a matter of deep shame that the ones appointed to protect and safeguard our democratic ethos are in fact responsible for inflicting irreparable damage to the traditional values and democratic set up of the state and the country. Perhaps it is time for the people to re-visit the privileges and perks enjoyed by these institutions, in the absence of any corresponding accountability on their part,” it said.
Goencho Avaaz congratulated all the petitioners who challenged the attempted fraud that the BJP was attempting to engineer through a pliant State Election Commission.
Goencho Avaaz also took the opportunity to warn the BJP that it will keep a watchful eye on any attempts made by it to weaken the institution of the State Election Commission and vitiate the democratic values in the state through fraudulent means.