E-Paper
Goa poll body postpones municipal elections by 3 months due to Covid-19 pandemic
The term of 11 municipal councils in Goa ends on November 4.
Municipal elections in Goa, scheduled for October 18, have been postponed by three months in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the state election commission said on Monday.
“The health and safety of the people - voters, election staff, security staff - is paramount for the commission and commission did not think it prudent to go ahead and fix this election on this date. Otherwise many of the people who are going to be around for election purposes are going to be exposing themselves to the threat of spread of coronavirus,” Goa State Election Commissioner R K Srivastava said.
“We were hoping that if things improve we would hold the elections in time,” Srivastava added.
“Everyday cases are being reported. The government is managing the cases but over the last month or so, we’ve not seen any respite. We thought that it is just not advisable to go ahead with the election because democracy is for the people, by the people and of the people and we don’t want people to be exposed to any risks and their life should not be compromised because of the election. So we thought it prudent to postpone the election by three months,” Srivastava added.
The state election body will review the situation after three months and accordingly decide whether it is safe and conducive to hold elections later this year.
The term of 11 municipal councils in Goa ends on November 4.
These are the second elections to be postponed on account of the Covid-19 pandemic with the state zilla panchayat elections scheduled to be held on March 22 this year also being postponed at the last minute.
