40 per cent voting in Goa till noon

Panaji, Mar 3: Heavy voter turnout was registered in Goa assembly polls on Friday with 40 per cent of the electorate exercising their franchise till noon today amid minor disturbances in some areas of the coastal state.

With long voter queues since polling began at 7 AM, some of the constituencies, including Madkai where there is a straight fight between BJP-MGP and Congress-NCP, recorded 50 per cent voting by mid day.

Another constituency Sankhalim witnessed 49 per cent voting, election officials said. The lowest voting percentage was seen in Catholic dominated Dabolim, Curtolim and Navelim, the officials said. There were minor incidents of scuffle and police arrested two persons, police said.

In Panaji, BJP and Congress activists exchanged blows when Mayor Yatin Parekh, who is also a Congress candidate, allegedly snatched the identity card of BJP activist Vaidehi Naik, they said.

Following the scuffle, extra police personnel were deployed to control the situation, they said. In yet another incident at Davorlim near Margao town, Public Works Department mminister and Congress candidate Churchill Alemao allegedly threatened Deputy Superintendent of Police Shamba Sawant.

As mediapersons watched, Churchill allegedly threatened the DSP with dire consequences after the police officer stopped his daughter from moving around the polling booth. Police Inspector Fransic Corte was suspended for dereliction of duty in the port town of Vasco, they said.

Corte was suspended after the Election Commission received three complaints against him for being bias towards an NCP candidate. It was alleged that Corte allowed a bus full of voters to go without filing a complaint against the driver.

"The Inspector asked voters to get down and disperse but allowed the bus to go without taking statement of the driver or registering a case," a senior EC official said.

PTI