Panaji: Nepalese citizens were added as voters in the state during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claimed Goa Forward Party (GFP) chief and MLA Vijai Sardesai on Saturday. Sardesai also demanded an "impartial and time-bound" investigation into the alleged "irregularities".
Addressing a press conference here, Sardesai said some "invisible" voters were added to the electoral list, while eligible people were finding their names missing from the rolls.
"Nepalese nationals have been added as voters in Goa during the SIR exercise. How can any foreign national be a part of India's electoral roll?" he asked.
"We will now have to conduct street plays to create awareness among the voters, asking them to check whether their names are there in the rolls or not," Sardesai said, giving examples of how several voters from his constituency found their names getting deleted from the list without their knowledge.
The Fatorda MLA also lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), alleging that more than 50 voters were illegally shifted from the Curtorim assembly constituency to Fatorda even as their addresses remained the same.
Sardesai submitted the complaint via email on Friday, seeking an impartial and time-bound investigation into the alleged irregularities in electoral rolls.
The former deputy chief minister claimed in his complaint that names of several voters, who were in the Curtorim constituency during the 2012 and 2017 assembly elections, figured in the Fatorda electoral rolls in 2022 and 2026.
He alleged that the purported transfers raised concerns over the accuracy and integrity of electoral rolls and compliance with statutory provisions governing voter registration and constituency boundaries.
Describing the alleged irregularities as "merely the tip of the iceberg", Sardesai sought the CEO's urgent intervention to investigate a "deliberate attempt to manipulate electoral records".
The complaint referred to the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and relevant Election Commission of India guidelines, stressing that electoral registration must conform to legally notified constituency boundaries and the requirement of ordinary residence.
Sardesai also sought the deletion of voter entries found to have been illegally shifted, disciplinary action and criminal prosecution against those found responsible, and a state-wide audit to ascertain whether similar irregularities had occurred in other constituencies.
The legislator submitted annexures containing voter details from the Curtorim electoral rolls for 2012 and 2017 and the Fatorda rolls for 2021 and 2026 in support of his allegations.
Sardesai's allegations come amid INDIA bloc and Cockroach Janta Party's protests over demand for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities and mass voter deletions during the SIR of electoral rolls.