Kamal Ghorui
Panaji: Days after the Bombay high court cancelled the Ponda byelection due to be held on April 9, Congress candidate Ketan Bhatikar appealed the judgment in SC.In his petition, Bhatikar said that he was not party to the proceedings before the high court and filed his SC petition as he is directly aggrieved by the judgment. He said that the decision to declare a nearly completed electoral process void cannot be sustained. He said that while there is no mandate to hold bypolls within six months, there is no mandate not to hold polls if the term is less than one year.His petition states that the interpretation of Section 151A in the judgment defeats the very purpose of Section 151A of continued representation of the electorate in the constituency, and deprives the constituency of such representation.He said that if the intent of clause (a) of Section 151A is to curb waste of resources, the HC cancelled an electoral process which was by and large concluded, leading to a waste of public resources and leaving the seat vacant for more than one year.AICC’s Goa desk in-charge Manikrao Thakare on Monday said that Bhatikar approached the SC to “restore the people’s fundamental right to representation”. He hit out at the Goa chief minister, saying that his “apparent fear of defeat has led to the misuse of constitutional institutions to abruptly cancel the Ponda byelection”.
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“The people of Ponda had every right to cast their vote and elect their MLA. Campaigns were actively underway, ballots had been printed and issued, and candidates were fully prepared. Yet, just 16 hours before polling, the byelections were suddenly scrapped. The Election Commission’s decision not to challenge this move raises serious concerns about democratic norms,” he stated on X.
