-- Samir Umarye BICHOLIM: It may be a small electoral step for the State government, but elections to the five- member Harvalem panchayat in Bicholim taluka will be a giant political leap for residents of the State’s newest panchayat.
And the number 13 will certainly be auspicious for the residents, as they will get a chance to participate in panchayat elections on July 13, after a gap of 13 years. “ We have not seen local level elections since the last 13 years and I faintly remember having voting for a local candidate way back in 2001,” recalls Samir Malik, who runs a small business in the village. “ It was really difficult for us all these years as we did not have any local representative and we had to run from pillar to post, even to avail of any scheme announced by the government.” “ It was like we were staying in the state of Goa, but were still denied the basic right of having our own local representative who could voice our grievances before the government” Malik added. Sanquelim and Harvalem have had a chequered history of political changes according to the whims and fancies of politicians. Having been classified a panchayat since Liberation, Sanquelim was upgraded to a municipality in 1999 and the government appointed an administrator. Stiff public opposition forced the government to reverse its decision and return Sanquelim to its panchayat status in December 2000. Panchayat elections were declared in April 2001 and the panchayat completed its five year term. Elections to the new panchayat were declared in April 2006, but barely two days before the polls, the government elevated the status of Sanquelim to a municipality and appointed an administrator to the council. Elections to the 10- member Sanquelim municipal council were held in 2008. Furious with the government’s arbitrary move, residents of Upper Harvalem ( which was then ward 1 of Sanquelim) demanded panchayat status for Sanquelim and even threatened to boycott the 2008 polls. The government ignored their warning and went ahead with elections, but all voters of ward 1 retaliated by boycotting the polls in a unique show of solidarity. Assuming that the protests would fizzle, authorities decided to hold by- elections to the ward after a year. Three candidates filed their nominations, but the vigilant residents of Upper Harvalem thwarted such moves and forced all three candidates to withdraw from the fray. They demanded that Harvalem should be either given separate panchayat status or should be included in Honda panchayat. Since then the villagers were without any panchayat. The BJP government finally fulfilled their demand and on February 25, 2013, notified Harvalem panchayat as the 190th panchayat in the State. BICHOLIM: They may be delighted to vote in the Harvalem panchayat elections after 13 years, but residents have received a rude reminder about flaws in the electoral process. Errors in the voter list have annoyed the residents and in one case, a man who was keen to get his wife to contest the polls has now found out that he will not get a chance to vote for her due to an electoral goofup. “ There are errors in the voter’s list in almost all wards of the panchayat. There are cases where the husband is shown in one ward while his wife is in another ward,” said Vidhyanand Malik. Vidhyanand, who was trying to field his wife in Ward 2 ( reserved for women) of the panchayat, was in for a rude shock when suddenly he realized that his name was registered in Ward 1. “ We received the voter’s list only on June 17 and there are many errors in the list. My friends and I had already begun campaigning for my wife in Ward 2 and we were hopeful that she would get elected. But to our shock, we have realized that most of the families who have supported us are in Ward 1,” Vidhyanand said.
