Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday hit out at Congress and the opposition for creating confusion in the minds of Goans over the deletion of minority voters from the electoral rolls during the recently concluded special intensive revision (SIR) in Goa. He said that those holding dual citizenship and Portuguese passports must not have approached the Election Commission (EC) to include their names in case they were deleted during SIR.Congress said that minority voters have been cancelled from the electoral rolls.“Portuguese passport holders must have not gone to fill Form 6 to add their deleted name in the electoral roll, or some people must have voted in some other state; those people must have not added their deleted names in the state,” the CM said.He said that genuine electors whose names were deleted during SIR approached EC and followed the due process. EC must have added their names again to the electoral rolls.“Nobody is doing injustice to minorities in the state. Opposition parties have always tried to divide and rule. Not only minorities, EC notices have gone to many people. Even BJP senior members have received SIR notice to verify themselves,” Sawant said.The CM said Congress is trying to create anarchy in Goa and the country by attacking constitutional bodies, including EC, CAG and Supreme Court.“Congress tries to create an illusion by spreading false information where they cannot win the elections. When they win elections in Karnataka and Kerala, they don’t raise doubt on the election process but wherever they lose, they have raised doubt on EVMs and blame the EC which is an independent authority,” Sawant said.He said that when a joint news conference was addressed by all three election commissioners, it clarified the doubts on SIR and exposed Congress and the opposition for spreading the lies. EC has clarified that the decision on SIR was taken collectively, Sawant added.Chief minister said that SIR is not new to the people of the state and an earlier SIR was conducted in the country. “When the election is near, Congress always makes such an allegation,” Sawant said. He said that even when the armed forces conducted a surgical strike, Congress demanded proof from the armed forces.“When they demanded election on ballot paper, govt allowed ZP elections on ballot papers in Goa and they lost that too and people have lost faith in Congress and people of Goa will not fall prey to Congress,” Sawant said. He said that Congress has created a false narrative and won some elections but people now have become intelligent and will not trust Congress.
