Willy has an identity crisis in Saligao By a Staff Reporter [EMAIL PROTECTED]
PANJIM: Deputy Chief Minister Dr Wilfred de Souza has an identity crisis in Saligao. He does not know where he belong and what is his election photo identity card (EPIC) number, thanks to bungling during the intensive revision of electoral rolls. Speaking to reporters, Dr de Souza alleged that there were lot of discrepancies in the draft rolls, and demanded that the election office should do a fresh enumeration in Saligao. According to him, Saligao constituency has been misspelt as 'Saligoa'. He said that the locality of Part 14 of Saligao constituency has been mentioned as 'near Mathias School' when it should be near Mater Dei School, near Bairo Alto. All the house numbers from serial number 1 to the bottom have been changed. He said that though his name has been spelt properly, his house number has been wrongly mentioned and there was no mention of EPIC number of the draft rolls. He produced his EPIC [Electoral Photo Identity Card] issued to him by the Election Commission of India (ECI) a few years ago. Even, in one case, names of 30 Lamanis have been enrolled as voters in Saligao. He said that he had already brought all the discrepancies to the notice of the chief electoral officer (CEO) and demanded that the enumerators should refer to the old electoral rolls to correct the follies. The deputy chief minister said that during his talks with the officers from the CEO, he was shocked to know that the enumerators relied on the house numbers furnished by the local panchayat. He said that it was the duty of the enumerators to conduct house-to-house enumeration as per the instructions of the CEC, New Delhi. He charged that the entire process of intensive revision of electoral rolls had been vitiated in the state, reiterating his demand for a fresh enumeration. NCP general secretary and spokesman Surendra Furtado, who was also present, complained that about 3800 voters' names were missing in Panjim constituency and demanded action against those responsible for undermining the electoral process in the state. (ENDS)