South Goa MP marked ‘unmapped’, issued notice

PANAJI: South Goa Congress MP, Viriato Fernandes, a former Navy Officer, who joined politics after retirement, said he was issued a notice by the Election Commission of India, to submit documents to prove his “identity in order to retain my name in [the] electoral roll”.

The first-time Member of Parliament from South Goa said the notice was issued despite him being registered as a voter continuously since 1989.

“The ECI had subjected every contestant during last Lok Sabha polls in 2024, including me, with the highest level of scrutiny before clearing name for contesting the elections… If a Member of Parliament can be subjected to this scrutiny, wonder about the fate of a common man,” Fernandes said.

“I have been voting since 1989 after becoming eligible thanks to late PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji’s initiative of giving voting rights to 18-year-olds. Travelled to Goa multiple times from far off places of military posting during my 26 years of service in the Indian Navy just to cast my vote, be it Lok Sabha, Assembly, Panchayat or zilla parishad,” he added.

According to the notice, which Fernandes posted on social media, the MP has been issued a notice since he had not “filled in the details related to you or your relative that could establish you or your relative as a registered elector in the electoral rolls prepared during the previous SIR”.

The notice issued to him directed that he should appear before the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) on January 27 with necessary documents.

In response to Fernandes’ complaint, Janavi Kalekar, the AERO, issued a clarification that the enumeration form filled by the MP “did not contain mandatory details of the last SIR, including the Assembly constituency number, part number and serial number in the electoral roll”.

“As these essentials were not filled in, the BLO application could not automatically link the form with the existing electoral roll record. Accordingly, in the present case, the enumeration form was placed under the unmapped category by the system and a hearing notice was generated and issued automatically as per the prescribed procedure,” Kalekar said.