NT NETWORK
PANAJI
State Chief Electoral Officer Kunal on Friday said that his office would maintain a close watch over the declarations made by the candidates filing their nomination papers for the forthcoming Goa assembly elections, as regards their Indian citizenship.
“It is a guideline of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and I have to prevent its violation,” he added. It may be recalled that in a series of ‘first time’ guidelines, the ECI has decided that all such candidates will have to make a declaration vide an affidavit that he or she is an Indian national in the amended nomination paper (From 2A and 2E).
This would require the candidate to make a declaration that he/ she is a citizen of India and has not acquired citizenship of any other country. This could come into play in the state where many, including candidates, are embroiled in the controversy of having dual citizenship, that of India and Portugal.
Speaking further, Kunal said that the related details declared by the candidates would be scrutinised by the returning officer.
The state Chief Electoral Officer also maintained that many people have already started calling his office in this context, and quoting various laws about dual citizenship/ nationality. “Well, I could only tell them to come to my office and actually show me where laws quoted by them actually exist,” he said.
Incidentally, Goa Vikas Party MLA Caetano Silva, who is set to contest the 2017 state assembly election, is involved in the dual citizenship controversy. It is also predicted that over 2 lakh Goans are currently enjoying the dual citizenship.
Furthermore, as many as 27,000 Goans, who have ceased to be Indian nationals and have obtained foreign nationality including Portuguese citizenship, may have already lost their voting rights.