ROQUE DIAS | NT
MARGAO
After casting vote in my Camorlim village, I travelled straight to the Fatorda constituency, having political importance for the Congress and the Goa Forward.
After the failed alliance talks, and both the parties fielded their candidates.
At the PWD polling booth, the vehicles were found parked right near it, with the police personnel being mere spectators.
“Fifty one votes polled in first one hour,”said the presiding officer at the PWD polling booth.
“The voting will pick up,”assured another official while putting ink mark on voter’s finger.
Within minutes I visited the next polling booth, and gathered that almost the same number of voters have cast their vote in the first one hour.
As I travelled to the town, I felt that the real ‘feel’ of the election was missing. The tables that were usually being found set up by the candidates’ supporters for facilitating the voters were not to be seen. The EC voters slips sufficed. At around 9.30 am, the former chief minister and sitting MLA of Margao Digambar Kamat cast his vote.
“For the first time, such informative slips have been issued,”he said while chatting with a media person, and soon cast his vote.
Then a call from a Nuvem resident, drew my attention and I rushed there.
“An EVM-VVPAT slip is showing lion symbol even if vote is cast for hand,” one of the voters explained to me as my curiosity ‘pushed’ me through the long queues of voters at booth number 23 to meet the presiding officer.
The presiding officer was confused with the happenings. A message was sent and soon the sector officials and flying squad team rush to the spot, and they immediately changed the voting machine.
“It was not properly set with the Goa symbols,” an official said.
At Kirbhatt polling booth, there were long queues of voters. “Think and vote,” was the message given to the voters by one of the polling officials.
Within an hour, several booths from Nuvem constituency were visited, and it was found that there was a good turnout.
Then I moved to Margao, which was witnessing four-corner fight. Here too, there was a sizeable crowd at some of the polling booths.
“The VVPAT slip takes time. Otherwise, the voting would have been still faster,”said a presiding officer at the booth located at Margao Municipality building.
“Both the BJP and Congress candidates seem to be going neck and neck,” was the logical answer from a senior citizen, when a media person posed him a question.
A team of eight CISF personnel was guarding the most sensitive polling booth at Monte Dongor. Though there were queues of voters, no untoward incident was reported.
“Kisine masti ki to bandunk chalayenge,” said UP-based security personnel.
From Monte Dongor, I travelled to Quepem constituency.
Soon, the pink booth located next to the Collectorate building drew my attention.
The officials handed over three teddy bears to the first-time women voters.
The low battery of EVM panicked the presiding officer at the polling booth no 12 at Ambaulim.
“I informed the sector officer, and he assured me that he would be coming soon,”said the presiding officer.
There was a long queue of women at around half past twelve. “They normally come at this time, because many of them are working. Others are engaged in cashew business,” informed a polling agent.
The fear drove the polling team to slow down the polling process.
Traveling another 10-odd km, I came to Balli, and found that there was a huge crowd.
After having lunch hurriedly, I travelled to the Benaulim constituency. On the way, at Khareband, I found a car surrounded by hundreds of people.
“The driver and occupant are involved in intimidating the voters, ”alleged BJP supporters.
The police were called at the site. The CISF personnel soon joined them.
The car was checked. Forty voters’ slips and Rs 5,000 cash were found, the police said.
The matter was referred to the flying squad. The car was taken to the police station.
BJP candidate Sharmad Raiturkar alleged that his “rival Congress candidate Digambar Kamat is playing dirty tricks to grab the votes.”
I then slowly moved towards Benaulim constituency.
As presiding officer Antariskh Naik at Pedda booth was ‘going’ very slow, the crowd had swelled.
“You know, 50 per cent of the presiding officers are new,” said an official.
“I am confident of wining the seat with a margin of 3,000 votes,” said Churchill Alemao at Varca.