NT NETWORK
PANAJI
Except for a few stray incidents, polling was peaceful in the 794 polling booths spread across 19 assembly constituencies in North Goa. The government agencies since Friday night had stepped up surveillance in North Goa while there was special emphasis on the entire Porvorim constituency, which was declared sensitive. Apart from that, seven vulnerable polling booths in St Cruz and Calangute were also being closely monitored by the government agencies.
“Some minor incident did occur but the voting process was otherwise peaceful,” said south Goa District Collector Swapnil Naik briefing the media. He said that on the intervening night of February 3 and February 4, liquor worth Rs 14 lakh was seized in the district.
According to police, some minor incidents were reported at a number of locations in North Goa. These incidents included altercations between members of rival political groups while at other locations some persons were detained as a precautionary measure.
“It was an incident-free poll day. The polling proceeded smoothly in the polling stations in the 19 assembly constituencies in North Goa,” said North Goa Collector Nila Mohanan during a press briefing at the collectorate building in the city on Saturday evening.
North Goa Superintendent of Police Karthik Kashyap said, “The incident response system was extremely good. The number of persons and resources, which we had deployed on the field helped us respond to any fake or genuine complaints quickly.” “There were no incidents of any non-cognisable offences anywhere on the poll day. With regard to Porvorim constituency (sensitive) and other vulnerable polling booths in St Cruz and Calangute constituencies, great care and precaution was taken,” said Kashyap.
According to Mohanan, there was full cooperation from voters towards several new initiatives, which were implemented by the authorities this election. The EVMs have been transported and stored at the Bal Bhavan centre at Campal, Panaji, under a three-tier security cover, said Mohanan.
“There were few instances wherein we had to change the EVMs. However, there was no delay caused due to change of machines,” she said and added that a total of 11 voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) were replaced during the polls (North Goa) – one each in Bicholim, Saligao, Siolim, Porvorim, Taleigao, St Cruz, Cumbharjua, Poreim and Valpoi while two in a Calangute constituency. Similarly, Control Units (CU) – one each in Pernem, Bicholim while two CUs in Poriem constituencies were replaced. One Ballot Unit (BU) was also replaced in Calangute constituency.
Mohanan condoled the death of a senior citizen at a polling booth in Panaji. “It is a very unfortunate incident and I would like to offer condolences from the entire election machinery including the CEO. We are very saddened by the fact that one senior citizen suffered medical problem,” said Mohanan.