Election officials inspect Viswajit's farm, find nothing

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Panaji, May 20 (UNI) Election officials, accompanied by a posse of police, today inspected the farmhouse of Viswajit Rane, son of Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane, at Karapur near Valpoi from where he is contesting as an independent for the June 2 elections to the Goa Legislative Assembly.

Suspected that some election related activity was going on as a crowd was present, the officials tried to enter the place to inspect but were allowed only after they idenified themselves in presence of the policemen.

When they found nothing incriminating in the raid, the officials left the premises.

There were suspicious that Rane would distribute Dayanana Social Security Scheme cheques to the senior citizens or some machines as election sops to voters.

The Congress had not officially announced backing of Viswajit's candidature following last minute withdrawal of the Congress nominee Laxman, an aged fruit plucker, from the contest.

Viswajit, who was GPCC general secretary, also resigned from the Congress at the eleventh hour and filed his nomination as an independent with the party denying him the ticket under the ''one ticket-one family'' norm.

Political observers, however, felt it was a ''drama'' to fool the people so that the Congress could ensure the ''backdoor entry'' of Viswajit into politics.

In protest, former minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate had resigned from the primary membership of the party and the Assembly before filing his nomination on a UGDP ticket, besides as an independent the last minute on the last day of filing nominations, causing embarrassment to the Congress.

This forced the Congress to support candidature of independent candidate Somnath Zuarkar, a former minister, in Taleigao which Babush was trying to retain for the second term.

Babush also sought to reach an ''unforgettable lesson'' to Congress which denied his wife Jennifer a ticket to contest from neighbouring Santa Cruz constituency. She is also contesting on UDGP ticket against Deputy Speaker and the Congress nominee Ms Victoria Fernandes.

UNI

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