Panaji: Goa Forward Party chief and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai on Saturday alleged that Nepali nationals were added to the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji on Saturday, Sardesai alleged that Nepali nationals were also added as voters in the coastal state during the SIR.
“How can any foreign national be a part of India’s electoral roll?” he questioned, adding that he would like to put this question to election officers.
He also alleged that some ineligible voters were added to the list, while eligible voters found their names missing from the rolls.
“Now we will have to conduct street plays to create awareness among voters, asking them to check whether their names are on the rolls or not,” Sardesai said, citing several instances of voters from his constituency discovering that their names had been deleted from the rolls without their knowledge.
Sardesai has also lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), alleging that more than 50 voters were illegally shifted from the Curtorim Assembly constituency to Fatorda while retaining their original house numbers.
Sardesai submitted the complaint via email on Friday, seeking an impartial and time-bound investigation into the alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls.
The former Deputy Chief Minister said in his complaint that the voters were listed in the Curtorim constituency during the 2012 and 2017 Assembly elections but appeared in the Fatorda electoral rolls in 2022 and 2026.
He alleged that the purported transfers raised concerns over the accuracy and integrity of the electoral rolls and compliance with statutory provisions governing voter registration and constituency boundaries.
Describing the alleged irregularities as “merely the tip of the iceberg”, Sardesai sought the CEO’s urgent intervention to investigate what he termed a deliberate attempt to manipulate electoral records.
The complaint referred to the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and relevant Election Commission of India guidelines, stressing that electoral registration must conform to legally notified constituency boundaries and the requirement of ordinary residence.
Sardesai also sought the deletion of voter entries found to have been illegally shifted, disciplinary action and criminal prosecution against those found responsible, and a statewide audit to determine whether similar irregularities had occurred in other constituencies.
The legislator submitted annexures containing voter details from the Curtorim electoral rolls for 2012 and 2017 and the Fatorda rolls for 2021 and 2026 in support of his allegations.
