SOIRU VELIP | NT
PANAJI: Yet another state assembly election is being held without reservation of constituencies for three scheduled tribe communities – Gawda, Kunbi and Velip.
Although the three communities were included in the central ST list in 2002, successive governments at the Centre, including the present Bhartiya Janata Party-led NDA government, have failed to grant political reservation to the Goan tribals in the state assembly.
It is pertinent to note that despite the absence of political reservation some 15 persons belonging to the ST communities are in the fray in nine assembly segments.
United Tribal Associations Alliance an umbrella body representing tribal associations, has been demanding 12 per cent reservation – five seats in the state assembly – for the three communities.
ST members feels that the ruling BJP in the state and at the Centre has miserably failed to fulfil their longstanding demand.
For the forthcoming assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party has nominated four ST candidates, while the BJP has given ticket to three tribal leaders. The Congress and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party have nominated two each candidates from the ST communities.
Besides, there are four Independent ST candidates in the arena.
In the absence of political reservation, ST members have to contest the elections like any other candidates in unreserved constituencies.
Nevertheless, the state assembly has witnessed the representation of tribal leaders in the last four decades, although the three communities, which had previously been in the OBC list, were included the ST list in 2002.
So far the ST leaders namely Vasu Paik Gaonkar, Dr Kashinath Jhalmi, Babuso Gaunkar, Prakash Velip, Luis Alex Cardoz, Antonio Gaonkar, Prabhakar Gaonkar, Krishna Kuttikar, Pandurang Madkaikar, Vasudev Gaonkar, Ramesh Tawadkar and Ganesh Gaonkar have represented their communities in the state assembly.
Guru Shirodkar, a senior tribal leader who has been at the vanguard of the fight for political reservation to the communities, blames both the Congress and the BJP for not fulfilling the “constitutional right” of the tribals.
“This is nothing but deception of the communities by national political parties, especially the BJP. Because of the deliberate disregard towards first settlers of the state by the Modi government, the tribal communities of Goa have lost out on their constitutional right of political reservation in the state assembly,” he said.
It must be noted here that the Readjustment of Representation of SC/ST in Parliament and Assembly Constituencies (Third) Ordinance, 2013, promulgated by the then UPA government has lapsed. It needs to be re-promulgated by the central government, or the government must get a related law passed in the Parliament.
Claiming that not a single party has supported this demand in the Parliament, Shirodkar said that when the Modi government came to power at the Centre it filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying the petition, which had been filed by the then UPA government, was not maintainable.
He recalled that the then UPA government, which also had initially raised objections in the SC, had promulgated the ordinance pertaining to amendment to Article 332 of Constitution of India, which deals with reservation of seats for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes in the legislative assemblies of states, for third time. The UPA government had agreed in the apex court upon implementing the mandate. However, the ordinance lapsed before the new central government came to power in 2014.
Shirodkar stated that only two steps were required to be adopted to make way for political reservation to the Goan ST communities – inviting objections and issuing a notification.
Furthermore, most of the procedures were completed by the Election Commission of India by 2014 including identification of reserved constituencies – Nuvem, Priol, Quepem and Sanguem where there is highest ST population.