The existing political scenario in Goa indicates only one thing, and that is, the possibility of the Mid-Term Polls in the state. It looks like the above possibility have been sensed by the government and due to this the Chief Secretary of Goa Mr. Dharmesh Sharma had issued a circular to all the heads of the departments and District Collectors. The sources have revealed that the Goa State Legislative Assembly may get dissolved soon.
According to the report published by the Navhind Times with the sheer possibility of the state legislative assembly being dissolved looming large owing to the current political situation, there is now an indication that Goa may indeed have to face mid-term polls.
The reports further state that the circular issued by the Chief Secretary mentions about the directives of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to be followed when a caretaker government is asked to carry on with the administration of a state.
Following the receipt of the circular from CS Goa, there has been a tete-a-tete amongst the senior officials that there could be a possibility of premature dissolution of the state legislative assembly at any moment.
It looks like, due to the fear garnering from the recent five-state election results in which BJP had to face landmark defeat, the step was taken by the senior official. Although the circular was issued by the chief secretary on 14h November the reason behind issuing the same is not highlighted in it, said the sources.
The circular states that the ECI has considered the matter of the application of the model code of conduct in the cases of premature dissolution of state assembly where a caretaker government has been asked to carry on with the administration of the state/Union territory for the purpose of free fair, transparent, and robust electoral process.
“On careful consideration of the matter, keeping the observation of the Supreme Court in S R Bommai and others versus Union of India and others (1994), the caretaker government should merely run the day-to-day government and desist from taking any major policy situation decision,” it states.
The circular states that hence the ECI has directed that in such an eventuality as described above, the provision of Part-VII (party in power) of the model code of conduct shall come into operation with immediate effect in the state concerned and shall continue to be in force till the completion of election to constitute the new legislative assembly.
It further states that the provision of aforesaid part-VII of model code of conduct shall apply on the caretaker government as well as on the central government in so far as matters relating to that state are concerned. “Consequently, neither the caretaker government nor the central government shall announce any new schemes, projects, etc in respect of that state or undertake any of the activities prohibited under the aforesaid model code of conduct,” the directive reads.
Further, the directive states that all the other prohibitions under part-VII, such as use of official resources for non-official purposes, combining of official visits with electioneering works etc shall apply to all ministers and other authorities of the caretaker state government, the central government as well as the governments of other states.
The above gives a clear indication that the state government had sensed the possibility of the dissolution as it is becoming difficult to pull the cart with a load of demands increasing every day. The mid-term polls will give another chance to the people of Goa to select their next government and this time the voters won’t miss out on the opportunity. What is your view on this??
